


Sonic Quadru-Venture

by Funshutsu



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-25 16:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 67,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7539361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Funshutsu/pseuds/Funshutsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story focuses on 4 different adventures: Sonic, Tails, and  Amy are trying to restore Angel Island and the Master Emerald, Knuckles gets trapped in an alternate timeline and has to adjust to it until he can find a way back, Shadow and Eggman are trying to complete a failed job that left Shadow dead for 3 years, and Chaos wants to reseal Shadow within the Master Emerald. These events eventually lead to 1 massive conflict after many character confrontations.</p><p>This fic is rated for Violence, Blood, and Suggestive Themes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Slain Has Been Revived

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction. I've planned this fic out since early 2013, and I'm ready to share it to the media. This fic will be published on this site and Fanfiction.Net. I will accept any and all constructive criticism for this fic.
> 
> Also, the story's name is short for Sonic Quadruple Adventure, which means that there are 4 adventures in this story.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the first chapter! :D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story starts with Eggman; he finds a black hedgehog sealed within the Master and decides to shatter it into pieces and revive him for a huge favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction. I've planned this fic out since early 2013, and I'm ready to share it to the media. This fic will be published on this site and Archive Of Our Own. I will accept any and all constructive criticism for this fic.

_1 - The Slain Has Been Revived_

Angel Island. A lonely, yet peaceful... _floating_ island? Anyway, this was the very place where the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds were kept safe from anyone who would harm it, that is, if Angel Island were better secured than it is at the moment.

A floating...egg thing inside a machine...passed by the small floating island. He looked down to where an Altar was located. the Altar was a very sacred monument located on Angel Island. This is so because, as aforementioned, this is where the Master Emerald and all 7 Chaos Emeralds belonged. They remained there so that the Master Emerald could control the Chaos Emeralds' powers, and whoever wielded one or more of them could use as much of their powers as they please. Well, maybe _not everyone_ was able to do so, but _many were_ able to do so.

But this man's main reason for heading here wasn't just here for the purpose of stealing the Chaos Emeralds like he usually was, no. In fact, he had something else in mind...something _completely_ different, rather, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't commit evil to successfully execute this plan.

He stared down from his machine and gazed at the Altar from up top. He glared as he landed on the grassy area surrounding the Altar. He slowly walked near the sacred monument, facing his left to make eye contact with one of the Chaos Emeralds. He chuckled and swiped it from its perch. He observed its gleaming beauty for a few moments, while the sun reflected a bright, colorful light into his covered eyes.

"If I use this Chaos Emerald to revive that pesky hedgehog, then I will be able to get my revenge!", he uttered. He further approached the Master Emerald and knelt before it. He raised the Chaos Emerald a bit and brought it closer to the bigger emerald. A green light began to shine from the bigger emerald, and the bright sun before them made the light look brighter than it actually was. The man smirked.

"Now, my precious Chaos Emerald, expose the black hedgehog that has been sealed within this emerald and let the slain be revived by myself!", he says, with a sort of chanting tone.

Before he knew it, a black hedgehog with a few crimson marking on his quills was shown to him, deep within the center of the Master Emerald. As the man said before, the hedgehog was slain and sealed within the Master Emerald, possibly to be kept preserved and to prevent rotting. How and why he was slain was yet to be known. He actually looked quite peaceful in his eternal slumber, despite how pale his skin looked at the moment.

"There you are, you pesky little hedgehog...", the man uttered. "Once I bring you back to life, you will do everything I say so that I can finally destroy the morons that took everything I had away!", he yelled.

He stood up and raised the Chaos Emerald higher. He stood erect and more determined than ever. "Now, Chaos Emerald! Unleash your powers and release this hedgehog from the Master Emerald!", he yells out before making one last command. "Chaos Control!"

The Master Emerald eventually developed a small fault on top of it, but it didn't take too long for that fault to grow bigger, bigger, _bigger_...until the entire thing was shattered into hundreds of fragments, and man, did they scatter _everywhere_. It would be nearly impossible for anyone to find all of them and restore the Master Emerald.

The black hedgehog hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before falling on the concrete below, rolling towards the taller man for a few seconds. After he stopped, he ended up facing the man while laying on his side. While brushing against the concrete, he developed a few bruises and his fur became somewhat matted and unkempt. The taller man knelt to the black hedgehog's level and caressed his dry fur for a few moments. He dropped the Chaos Emerald and picked up the one Master Emerald shard that remained next to him. He laid the black hedgehog on his back and slowly brought the fragment to his chest.

"Now, just stay still; this won't hurt one bit...", the man said in a soothing tone while slowly scraping the shard against the hedgehog's white chest fur. It was ironic for him to say this, knowing that the hedgehog will always remain still as long as he's dead.

After a quick tease, the man jutted his hand up a bit, leaving it up there for a few seconds, before bring it back down with the same amount of force, puncturing the hedgehog's skin and embedded into the Master Emerald shard deep within his chest; he smirked as he did so. After a few seconds, he slowly removed his hand, a few droplets of blood seeping down his fingers and back onto the hedgehog. The man didn't quite notice that this hedgehog's blood was green instead of the usual red. Maybe this hedgehog was an artificial entity of some sort...

The man stayed kneeling at the hedgehog's level. It took a few moments before the hedgehog began to stir, and even then, he didn't necessarily stir. Rather, he suddenly shot his eyes open, shooting a huge grin at the man, and a split second later, he pushed the man ton his back and pounced on him. The man grunted as his body hit the concrete beneath him, and he groaned as the rather strong hedgehog pinned his arms down with his own hands. The hedgehog's grin became smaller until it was nothing but a smirk exposing his rather sharp fangs.

"Why, if it isn't my old friend, _Dr. Eggman_...", he uttered with a smooth, yet deep, voice.

The man, now known as Dr. Eggman, observed the now alive hedgehog for a few seconds. A green hue began to encircle him. His irises and pupils were missing, and his skin was still pale. Apparently, the Master Emerald doesn't preserve _everything_.

"Welcome back, _Shadow the Hedgehog_...I need you for something _super duper_ important...", Eggman says.

The hedgehog, now going by the name of Shadow, strengthened his hold on Eggman and scoffed. "You need me? Please, I'm sure you remember what happened to me the last time you needed me for something!", he growled.

Eggman smirked. "Why, yes I do. In fact, I remember it like it was yesterday. You were shot down by many G.U.N. soldiers. Your poor body was riddled with gunshot wounds, and before you knew it, you died almost instantly in a bloodied mess...", he explained.

Shadow then sat next to Eggman. He draped the taller man's arm over his shoulder and pulled it back, dislocating it very slightly. He placed a foot over his chest so that he wouldn't move. Eggman roared in pain from the attack, but Shadow simply grinned. "Why, yes. That's absolutely correct. Now, answer me this: after that ordeal, do you think I would want to work with you once again if the same thing were to happen to me again?", he asked, drawing out the question with a rather uncomfortably low tone.

Not hearing a response from the doctor, he pulled on his arm some more, causing him to groan in pain. "Well? Would I?", he asked.

Eggman smirked weakly. "Here's _my_ question: would you work for me if it involved... _vengeance_?", he choked out, wincing in pain.

Shadow closed his eyes and sighed. "We've already done that before, and _that_  lead to my death. What makes you think I would want to do it again?", he asked

Eggman chuckled. "No, no, no. You're missing my point. What I meant was...would you like to help me destroy the G.U.N. for taking everything we had away from us? Like Maria? Gerald? _Your own life_?"

Whoever Gerald and Maria were, they must've been very caring individuals who made their lives  _everything_ they've ever wanted. Shadow remained silent for a few seconds. He furrowed his brows for a moment before reverting back to a bland facial expression. He then let go of his arm, slamming it over Eggman's chest and getting up from his seated position. "Alright, but this alliance is only temporary, understood?", he warned while stepping on the doctor's stomach then over him. Eggman exhaled violently from the force of Shadow's foot on his stomach.

Eggman slowly got up and clutched his arm. It wasn't injured too bad, but it sure as hell hurt. He growled audibly, but Shadow wasn't distracted by it. Before Eggman could leave from the Altar, Shadow spoke once more.

He didn't make any eye contact with Eggman; in fact, his back was facing him. "Hey. Take that Chaos Emerald with us. We could really use its powers to destroy those traitors...", he says before walking away, leaving Eggman behind.

He looked around for it before he finally found it. He bent over and grabbed it before heading towards the Egg Mobile, but Shadow had other plans.

"Hey, Shadow? The ride's over here...", he says.

Shadow simply huffed. "Hand me the Chaos Emerald. I can take us out of here more quickly...", he says.

Eggman runs over to Shadow and places the emerald in his open hands. Shadow raised the emerald high and yelled out the rather familiar words: "Chaos Control!", and before they knew it, they were teleported to a different location, but where was yet to be known.

But moments after the duo disappeared, a blue light began to emit from where the Master Emerald used to be. It got brighter as a being emerged from it. This being looked very strange; a creature made out of water? He was about the size of the average human of Station Square, except he sported giant lobster-like claws and 2 spikes that jutted out from 2 sides of his head, among many other notable differences.

His glowing green eyes grew angry. He balled up his...claws...and furrowed his brows. He stood there for several moments, not moving another inch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is actually supposed to be a completely new story with many elements from the canonical series, mainly Sonic Adventure/2. Let me know what you guys think so far. :)


	2. A Fallen Island and Unexpected Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles and Sonic's sparring session is interrupted by a crumbling Sky Sanctuary; after returning to Angel Island, something unexpected happens to Knuckles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Here's another chapter of this fic; this time, It's the heroes (well, mainly Knuckles)! Enjoy!

_2 - A Fallen Island and Unexpected Events_

It was a bright, sunny, yet somewhat cloudy, day in Sky Sanctuary. Sure, it was a beautiful day, but not a peaceful one. The sounds of grunting and groaning filled the cool, yet moist air.

"Hyaah!", a gruff voice can be heard yelling out from the distance, then the grunting noises of another being was heard as he hit the ground rather roughly. The other being pinned him down as he tried to get up.

"Heh, that all you got? You can do better than that, _Sonic the Hedgehog_.", the red echidna said smugly, putting emphasis on who was now Sonic's name.

The blue hedgehog below smirked. "You're right, _Knuckles the Echidna_. I _can_ do better than that.", he uttered, using the same emphasis that who was now Knuckles used. He brought his legs to his stomach, kicking the echidna away from him. He landed on his side with a slight bounce. Knuckles grunted from the impact but soon refocused his attention on Sonic when he attempted to land a punch on him. He quickly blocked that punch with a strong hand. He held it tight and pushed it away with all of his strength, while Sonic did the same, trying to overcome Knuckle's defense. They both smirked at each other and grunted with effort.

"You think you can win, Sonic?", Knuckles growled.

"Please, this is simply a sparring session! I can defeat you with a single blow!", Sonic huffed.

Their "sparring" session was stopped abruptly when a quiet buzzing sound gradually became louder as it approached them. They looked ahead and saw the Tornado 2, with a young, yellow fox piloting it.

"C'mon, guys! We're outta here! This place will crumble down any second!", he yelled out, and moments after he said so, the place began to shake violently, with several pieces of debris falling from it. As fast as they could, Sonic and Knuckles got from each other and ran over to the plane, with Knuckles plopping himself in the backseat and Sonic leaping on the plane's wing.

"You came just in time, Tails!", Sonic grunted.

"Let's move out!", Tails yelled out before flying the plane farther away from the ruins. Moments later, the Sky Sanctuary had fully given way and became nothing but a massive pile of ancient debris.

As the plane flew over the debris, Knuckles looked down at what was once a collection of ancient ruins. "Phew, thanks for saving our butts out there, but _I_ already know how to glide.", Knuckles sighed of relief. Usually, he hated to admit that he had been rescued, knowing that he would be humiliated because he was unable to use his own skills to save himself.

Sonic lay himself on his side and rested his head in his hand while it faced Knuckles. "Really? 'Cause to me, you looked like you were just about to snap my arm off.", he teased while making circles with his free arm.

Knuckles felt somewhat annoyed by the comment, but quickly brushed it off with a brash "Bah!". He reclined himself and crossed his legs, with arms over his head. He lowered his eyelids as if being inattentive. "Believe me, you would've needed my help even if it was just to buckle up your shoes.", he chuckled.

Sonic simply chuckled to himself.

The plane had finally made its way to a floating island...well, what was once a floating island. It was about two thirds submerged in the water, with only its surface poking out.

Tails gasped. "That's Angel Island! It's fallen!", he said in shock.

Knuckles stumbled in his seat then quickly looked at the sunken island. His eyes were wide, yet his brows were furrowed. He balled up his fist as he yelled out a simple "What!?".

"Maybe we should go check it out.", Sonic said.

So Tails flew around the island for a bit before landing his plane on its surface. Knuckles leaped out of the plane and faced his back toward Sonic and Tails. He jogged 2 few away before stopping on a dime and bending down to find...a piece of the Master Emerald!

He ran back toward the plane and presented it. "Look, guys. I found a piece of the Master Emerald. It might've shattered while we were gone!"

"I guess so…" Sonic mumbled. He then noticed a machine, the same one Eggman was riding in. "And I'm more than sure I know who shattered the Master Emerald...", Sonic groaned while shrugging his shoulders. "You better go find the rest of the emerald or else this floating island will become just a regular island."

He ran back to where he was moments ago until he yet again stopped at a dime and turned his head back toward the duo.

"Aren't you guys gonna stay and help me?", he asked

"Well, looks who _finally_ needs our help…", Sonic chuckled.

"We'll go to other places and look for the rest of the pieces, but right now we gotta give ol' Tornado 2 a tune-up." Tails explained while gently tapping on the plane's side. "But in the meantime, you can continue your search for some of the pieces that may have been misplaced here.", Tails explained.

The plane then began to take off. "Let me know when you guys are done.", Knuckles grumbled.

"Catch you later, Knux!", Sonic yelled out as his voice became more silent the farther the plane flew from the island.

Knuckles looked ahead, but just a split second later, he was holding his hand over his eyes as a strong light emitted before him. He growled as he was nearly blinded by it.

"Drat, what is that blinding light!?", he half-yelled, half-growled.

Despite its intensity, he approached it nonetheless. What he wasn't aware of was that the light sent him right toward the shrine of the Master Emerald and that the light was coming from where the Master Emerald used to be itself.

After climbing many, many steps, almost falling over several times, he finally took one last step forward, which caused him to trip over and... _into_ the light? He screamed quite loud as he fell for what seemed to be forever. His screaming gradually faded as he realized that he was slowing down.

Now, Knuckles was completely baffled. "Huh?", he said.

Eventually, he stopped falling and landed gracefully on the ground beneath him. He looked around and saw that he was still on the shrine, this time the light had disappeared.

"What the heck was that?", he mumbled, still baffled. He squeezed his eyes closed and put his hand on his head as a pounding headache only lasted for a few moments. When his headache ceased, he looked ahead, but when he did, he realized that he was no longer in Angel Island, at least, not the one he knew too well like the back of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment or feel free to keep reading as you please.


	3. An Unexpected Solider and Pachacamac's Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles ends up in another version of Angel Island and doesn't know how to get back. Now, he has to endure an unexpected experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy this chapter and happy July! ^_^

_3 - An Unexpected Solider and Pachacamac's Order_

"What the-what _is_ this place?", he said. "It looks like I'm still at Angel Island, but…", he continued. He paused when he bent over and slid his finger across one of the pillars that held the roof of the shrine in place. He rubbed his 2 fingers together to check for dust, and…

"Not a speck!", he said.

He turned a few times to see that this shrine looked pretty new and free of mold, compared to the older and moldier one that he laid foot on for so many years, although he still wasn't too sure where exactly he was.

"Maybe I went back in time…?", he wondered, then chuckled after realizing how ignorant he sounded. "Naw, that's ludicrous!", he chuckled.

He turned back to see the Master Emerald, which, ironically, was fully intact. He encircled it just to make sure every piece was where it was.

"No scratches, no cracks…", he mumbled to himself.

He looked all around the Master Emerald to check for that same light he saw earlier, but to no avail.

He placed his fists on his hips. "Well, I _do_ know for sure that I can't go back the way I came…", he huffed in aggravation. He looked ahead to see something else that rather surprised him.

"What the-!", he jumped in surprised. He didn't realize that there were exactly 39 echidnas staring in his general direction the entire time. He slowly walked down from the shrine and through the gap of the 2 groups of echidnas, each containing 8 lines of 5, minus 1 line in the very back, which contained 4.

Knuckles began to feel uneasy as he noticed that each of their heads and eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went. "Why are they all staring at me? This is getting real awkward.", he said as a very light blush began to take over his face.

He observed the echidnas. All of them, minus himself, had pink fur with white markings. Some were tall and lanky, others were short and bulky, some wore a golden ancient necklace with a glistening sapphire gem embedded in the center, while others didn't, and all of them wore the same pink, gold, and blue shoes. They all had violet eyes and pointed knuckles, just like himself. All stood still and erect, with heads following Knuckles wherever he went.

 _The Knuckles Clan?_ , he thought to himself. _But why is there so little of it?_

His thoughts trailed off when he unintentionally bumped into someone. He was another echidna, however he looked strikingly different than the others. He looked slightly older than the army itself. He stood the tallest out of all the echidnas, including himself. He sported brownish-red fur with peach markings on his head. He wore a feathered sky blue necklace and a light brown and sky blue sort of cloth. He had the same pink, blue, and gold shoes, violet eyes, and pointed knuckles, like himself, and he held a staff with sapphire feathers on the top.

The older one stared down at the younger and shorter Knuckles with a blank facial expression, while he shook his fist in the air and furrowed his eyes. "Hey, what's the big idea!?", he growled.

He didn't answer. He continued to give him that same blank stare, making him feel rather nervous. _Why is he staring at me like that?_ , he thought to himself.

His nervousness quickly turned into rage when he pushed him further back until they were about 2 feet away from the rest of the echidnas. He never heard an answer from him. He was getting ready to strike a blow right into his face.

"Answer my question!", he quickly punched, only for the older one to quickly block with his own hand. Before the younger one could think or say anything else, the older one punched him in his mouth, causing it to bleed out just a little bit. He quickly spat it out to the ground, although the rest of the blood coming out of his nose lingered back into his mouth, so he wiped it off from his nose.

Before he could counter-attack, the older one tripped him, causing him to fall face-first into the concrete ground. "Hey!" was the only word Knuckles could choke out before the older one pinned him down with his own leg and used the arm that he used to block his punch to pull his arm upward and twist it, causing Knuckles to scream in pain as he thought it would dislocate any minute if he never let go.

Some of the soldiers that stood next to them cringed slightly at what they were seeing, with one simply whispering a sympathetic "Ouch!" and another saying "I hope he's okay…", while others tried their hardest not to change their facial expression, albeit they felt uneasy from the sight of the quite painful hold.

"In the name of I, the leader of the Knuckles Clan, I hereby consider you a trespasser of our property. Either surrender quietly or die a painful death, do you understand me!?", the older one grunted with effort while slightly strengthening his hold.

Knuckles's pain quickly turned to rage as he grabbed his arm and shifted toward him so that his face was closer to his arm and, with great force, he bit his arm, enough that his fangs sunk into his arm, causing it to bleed slightly. The coppery taste of not his own, but the older one's blood lingered in his mouth after he released his bite, and man, did it taste nasty.

He hissed in pain. His arm was weak enough from the bite that Knuckles was able to throw him on his back, with himself on top of him. With both hands, he placed them on his neck, squeezing his larynx with his thumbs so that he couldn't breathe.

"Nobody touches me like that!", he grunted with effort. The older one was now wheezing and gasping for air, which caused Knuckles to strengthen his grip, in which he hacked violently due to sudden force of air being expelled from his mouth.

Then, with one leg, he violently pushed him to his back and quickly got on top of him. With that, he pinned his arms to the ground hard enough so that he couldn't escape, albeit this didn't stop him from vigorously trying.

"You shall not attack your leader! Do you hear me!?", he growled. This caused Knuckles's facial expression of effort to turn into confusion as he suddenly stopped moving. _MY leader?_ , he thought to himself.

The older one saw Knuckles's confused facial expression. He got off of him and stood up. When he saw that Knuckles never got from the ground, he violently gripped Knuckles's long dreadlocks and pulled him to his feet. "Get up.", he ordered as he did so. He, with great force, released his grip from his dreadlocks.

He placed his hand on his shoulder, which caused him to shiver slightly. "Son, you have skills.", he simply said. Knuckles wasn't getting it. _Why, all of a sudden, does he go from trying to kill me to trying to congratulate me?_ , he thought to himself.

"Now that you've used your brawn against me, you must also use it against the Nocturnus Clan.", he said. "To do that, you must be a soldier in our army.", he said as he lead Knuckles to that one spot in the very back that only had 4 echidnas. Now there were 40 echidnas in the army. "You are now considered part of the fight.", he said while tapping his shoulder. Knuckles was so confused that he just couldn't get rid of the feeling; it lingered with him wherever he went.

He walked back in front of the army. "I, Pachacamac, the leader of this army, order you to continue the search for Imperior Ix and challenge his clan to a battle. Is that understood?", he commanded.

"Yes, sir!", all but Knuckles said.

"Y-yes...sir…?", he shrugged as he continued to wondered how he got himself into this mess.

"Angel Island is in danger and we've already lost too many battles _and_ men! We _need_ this win in order to save Angel Island and be the more superior clan!", he said.

 _Ohh, so that's where they all went…_ , he thought to himself.

"Can we do it!?", he shouted.

"Yes, we can!", everyone, including Knuckled, replied.

He nodded. "Good. Now, move out!", he commanded.

And with that, they all went their separate ways. Knuckles headed to a forest-like part of Angel Island. Knuckles wanted to help his clan destroy their enemies, but he was also concerned about how he was going to get back to his homeworld.

"Gosh, I hope I can find _some_ way to get back home. I'm starting to miss it already.", he mumbled to himself as he started thinking about the now shattered Master Emerald, his friends, who were probably wondering where he was at this very moment, and the now fallen Angel Island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think or continue reading to your will. :)


	4. A Trip to Emerald Coast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it's Sonic's and Tails's turn to start their adventure; they work together and find the first 3 shards of the Master Emerald on Emerald Coast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter. Please enjoy. ^_^

_4 - A Trip to Emerald Coast_

Meanwhile in Knuckles's homeworld, the duo were in Tails's Workshop, located in the Mystic Ruins. They were making some repairs on the Tornado 2. They finished the majority of the repairs it needed and they were making some final adjustments on its propeller. While Tails was wiping off any dust that stuck onto the plane, Sonic made himself helpful by letting him show him how to use some of his tools.

"Now, use that wrench you're holding and twist that screw clockwise into the propeller until it feels tight.", he ordered while wiping off the plane's wing.

Sonic was about to do as told, but suddenly stopped as he got lost.

"Say, Tails. Which way is _clockwise_?", he asked.

Tails stopped what he was doing and sighed. He grabbed Sonic's hand and motioned it toward the protruding screw. He slowly turned his hand from left to right in a clockwise direction. "From left to right, like the hands of a clock.", then he let Sonic do the rest. He slowly twisted the screw in until it could no longer move.

Tails gave him a thumbs-up. "Great job, Sonic. Now, let's test it.", he said.

Sonic gave the propeller a good push. It turned quite smoothly for a few seconds.

"Well, looks like he's ready to go.", Tails said. "Now, let's go find those shards!".

So Tails hopped in the pilot's seat with Sonic sitting behind him in the passenger seat.

* * *

A little while after leaving the Mystic Ruins, Sonic and Tails were looking in Emerald Coast for any shards of the Master Emerald that might've been misplaced around the moderately empty beach. So far, progress has been scarce, with only one shard being found.

But it was only Tails searching for the pieces of the gem, while Sonic was busy destroying a mass of E-02 Rhinotanks, homing attacking at each of them until all that was left was a pile of scrap metal. He wiped his brows and huffed. He looked toward Tails, who was approaching him from behind.

They waved at each other. "Found any shards, Tails?", he asked.

"Barely.", Tails replied, out of breath. He showed him the one shard that he found.

"Hmph, you know what? We're not as skilled of treasure hunters as Knuckles will ever be.", he confessed.

"Yeah, we need his help.", Tails replied. "He must still be on Angel Island. I told him to look _there_ for any other shards."

"Hey, we didn't check the rest of the beach yet.", Sonic said.

"True, but...", Tails replied.

"Can we just explore for a little while? We might find more shards along the way.", he asked.

Tails sighed. "I guess, but we have to find Knuckles right after, okay?"

Sonic scoffed. "You worry too much. Let's go, buddy!", and with that, he and Tails continued straight, then they took a right and bounced off 3 springs. While Sonic destroyed a few E-01 Baby Kiwis with his Homing Attack, Tails continued to search for more shards. Sonic huffed and wiped his brows off of any perspiration.

"Any luck, Tails?", he asked.

Tails sighed. "No, not yet.", he replied.

That didn't let Sonic down. "Well, we have a long way to go, buddy. Let's move!"

And with that, they continued through some more of the beach, through loops and over dash panels. Tails managed to find another piece of the Master Emerald under some sand near the loop. They kept moving until they stopped on a bridge, which believe it or not, was not too stable.

"Wow, this bridge is not as stable as I thought it would be.", Sonic said, sounding wobbly. Tails didn't have that issue since he was flying above the ground. "Welp, that's not gonna stop me. Let's move, Tails!"

They continued straight until they found a more stable part of the bridge, but they couldn't stay there long. A subtle vibrate became a massive quake within a few seconds. They looked back and saw a giant Killer Whale headed their way.

"Sonic, I think that thing is chasing us!", he whimpered.

"Right, let's speed, kid!", he said as he grabbed Tails's hand and ran as fast as he could across the bridge, while the killer whale continued to chase them. The whale managed to destroy most of the bridge that they were previously on, so there was no turning back after this. With the help of the many dash panels and jump panels on the bridge, Sonic was able to avoid the whale more easily since they made him run faster. Because Tails had no time to react when Sonic grabbed his hand, he wasn't able to fly, so he had to try to run as fast as Sonic made him, which believe it or not, caused him to trip a few times and almost dropped the Master Emerald shards.

"Sonic, slow down!", Tails choked out while the wind whipped through his face.

Sonic looked back at the whale, then to him. "No way, buddy! I don't want to see you get mauled by that giant killer whale!"

After what seemed like forever, the duo had finally made it across the bridge and away from the killer whale that was chasing them before. Sonic landed gracefully on the sand that surrounded them while Tails fell face-first into it, albeit with the shards still in his closed palm.

Sonic chuckled for a moment when he saw Tails's face in the sand, then he grabbed Tails's hand and pulled him from the ground.

"You okay, buddy?", he chuckled.

One knee after another, Tails was able to stand on both of his feet once again. After coughing out some pebbles that lingered into his mouth, he let out a grunt of disgust.

"Yeah, I'm fine", Sonic let go of Tails's hand and sighed of relief. "Whew, that was close.", he said.

Tails kneeled over and placed his hands on his knees. His breathing was quiet, yet labored. "You said it…"

Sonic blocked the sun with his hand and looked ahead. "Looks like we still have a little more of the place to explore. Maybe we'll find another shard later on.", he said.

Then, Tails just remembered something he forgot to say. "Oh, I found another shard of the Master Emerald."

Sonic gave his little brother a thumbs-up. "Great work, little bro. Care to explore the rest of this beach just in case another one appears?", he asked.

"You bet!", Tails replied while giving his older brother a high-five. And with that, they went off and into another part of Emerald Coast. After quite a while of collecting rings, destroying some E-03 Sweepers and previously mentioned badniks, and dodging some spikes, Tails abruptly stopped when he saw a small gleam coming from one of the many Baby Kiwis that took over the beach. Right before Sonic could run and destroy it, Tails grabbed his wrist. Sonic was baffled at the sudden action.

"What are you doing, Tails?", he asked, somewhat annoyed at being stopped against his will.

"That badnik has a shard of the Master Emerald in its hand!", he replied.

Right after he said that, the badnik chuckled and intentionally threw the shard across the beach and into the water. After that, he ran away to higher ground.

Tails gasped. "That badnik just threw the shard across the beach."

Sonic shrugged. "Let's get it, then.", and just when Sonic was about to take off, Tails grabbed his wrist once more. Albeit he was becoming very impatient at being stopped again, he tried to be as calm as possible and asked him "Now, what?"

"There's one problem: it's in the water.", he replied.

This made Sonic quite nervous at the fact that he mentioned water. Sonic might've been the Fastest Thing Alive, but he sure wasn't the Best Swimmer Alive; in fact, our blue hero had a strong fear of water. He was able to swim for a short time, but he was always afraid of being swept away by a current and his friends not being there to rescue him from drowning if said incident ever happens. He shuddered as the thought continued to linger into his mind. Tails noticed the obvious fear on his face and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. _I'll_ get it.", he reassured him. This earned him a sigh of relief and a caress on his head. Tails simply chuckled.

After some more ring collecting and destroying badniks, the duo finally made it to the other side of the beach. The glow of the shard was seen from the shoreline of the water. Tails pointed at it and looked at Sonic.

"There it is!", he shouted.

"Way to go, buddy!", Sonic pushed Tails further toward the water and waved at him. Tails grunted and tripped from the sudden force. "Now, go get the thing.", he chuckled nervously as his mind went back to his fear of water. He unsuccessfully shrugged it off with a brash "I'm waiting!"

Tails was about to go grab it when he stopped on a dime. He faced Sonic and asked: "Hey, Sonic! I have to fly back and return the Tornado 2 over here, so I think _you_ should go get it!". He froze in fear when he said that. "Y-you mean...like...go _in_ the water?", he shuddered nervously.

"Sure!", Tails said. "It's not deep at all. Trust me!".

Sonic scratched his head. "Now, Tails. You know, when it comes to water, I'd rather see it than to touch it."

Tails groaned. "You know, Sonic. You need to at least tolerate the things that you fear if you're gonna be a hero.". This made Sonic become cross because he knew in his mind he was being difficult, but he didn't want to admit it. "Hey, shut up! It's not that easy, especially when those words are from someone who's afraid of lightning!", he scolded.

Tails sighed as he knew that talking back to Sonic was just going to make him angrier, and the fact that he was already annoyed with him, his best buddy, hurt him deeply, so he decided to do the calmest thing he could, but be able to get Sonic to get over his fear of the water. He went back toward the irritated hedgehog and grabbed his hand. "Well, how about I go with you?"

Sonic was confused. Why, all of a sudden, did he go from insulting him to helping him? Despite this sudden shift in actions, Sonic finally answered a nervous "Yeah, I guess..."

They slowly walked to where the shard lay, with Sonic occasionally backing away from the small waves that slammed near them. He became calmer after his feet began to touch the water.

"Hey, this isn't so bad.", he sighed.

"See, I told you.", Tails said.

They continued toward the shard, occasionally going deeper into the water. Sonic let go of Tails's hand and walked further until he was about more than ankle-deep into the water. "I got this for now, buddy.", he said. He reached into the water and grabbed the shard. He went back toward Tails and gave it to him. This earned him a thumbs-up.

"You see, Sonic. It's not so bad. Once you get used to it, that is."

He simply chuckled. "Let's go find Knuckles. We need him in order to find the remaining pieces of the Master Emerald."

Tails nodded. "I'll go get the Tornado 2. I'll be right back.", and he took off flying with his 2 tails. While Sonic waited, he crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. After about 30 seconds, Tails returned with the plane. He landed it on the tread of the water and motioned his hand to get in.

"Well, that took long enough.", Sonic mumbled.

"Let's go, Sonic!", he yelled out and Sonic hopped on the wing of the plane, and with that, they took off and headed for Angel Island.

Once they made it there, they looked around the island for Knuckles, but to no avail. They repeatedly called for Knuckles, but they received no reply.

Sonic sighed. "Where _is_ that Knucklehead?"

"Maybe he went somewhere else. How about we search around Station Square and see if he's there?", Tails offered.

"Sure. Let's go!", he said. So they went off to Station Square to find Knuckles. Although neither thought that he was in Station Square, it was worth a try to just search there because, who knows, he could be anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter so far. Leave a review or keep reading to your will. Wish me luck, and bye.


	5. Meeting Tikal and Knuckles's Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Knuckles thought that things would go well, he runs into 2 people; an orange female echidna with a smooth voice and the evil leader of the Nocturnus Clan, and both have different results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay. I had to read an entire book and write an oral report abut it (with the generous help of the Audiobook ^_^). Enjoy. ^_^

_5 - Meeting Tikal and Knuckles's Challenge_

Knuckles walked into a lush forest that was located somewhere behind the Altar. Ironically, he had never seen this forest before in his life, despite spending the majority of it on Angel Island. Well, than again, this was an alternate version of his home, so it made some sense that he didn't know about it. Also, due to the fact that he also spent most of his life guarding the Master Emerald, he just didn't have the time to explore the rest of Angel Island, which is also ironic because there were many instances where he actually went to places outside of the island, sometimes for many weeks. He bit his lip as the feeling of worry began to take over his mind as he thought about how he was going to get back to his homeworld.

"I hope I'm not trapped here _forever_. I hate to admit it, but I would feel _much_ better if Sonic came to the rescue.", he mumbled to himself as he looked in any and all directions for, as Pachacamac called him, Imperator Ix. He continued to walk straight until he unintentionally bumped into someone else with enough force to knock both to the grassy ground. Knuckles shook his fist and growled at her.

"Hey, watch where you're going!", he yelled, but immediately changed his attitude when he gawked at the young being before him. She sported orange fur, unlike the rest of the echidna tribe, but sported some white markings on her dreadlocks like them. She wore a white top with a light green skirt with pale-yellow and magenta diamonds. She had the same necklace and sapphire jewel like some of the tribe, but also sported some jewelry on her right arm and a tiara with another jewel embedded in it. Her shoes looked different, as well; they were basically white soles with bandaging wrapped around her feet, ankles, and shins.

She quickly got up from the ground and brushed herself off. "Oh, my goodness, I am _so_ sorry for running into you. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. You _must_ forgive me.", she apologized. He didn't respond but continued to look into her cobalt eyes without turning away even a single centimeter; he just couldn't keep his eyes off of her. _Who is this girl?_ , he thought to himself in awe. He gasped and shifted away slightly when he saw her bring her hand closer to him.

"I'll help you up if you like.", she said with a rather calm and silky-smooth voice that Knuckles just couldn't resist. He slowly brought his hand to hers and she pulled him from the ground with effort. He brushed himself off, which was the first time he wasn't looking in her general direction.

"What brings you here, friend?", she asked.

 _Friend?_ , he thought to himself. _We barely even know each other_.

"Oh, um…", he started. "...just looking for someone. W-why are _you_ here?"

She didn't respond. When he looked down and saw a pointed staff and shovel, both makeshift from old twigs, string, and feathers, he had gotten an idea, and it was scary. He tried to fight the feeling out of him so that he didn't start thinking it involved himself.

He picked both up from the ground. "What's all this?", he asked.

Tikal developed a troubled facial expression. "Oh, just some stuff I made."

"What's it for?"

"Oh, I would prefer not to say. It involves my father. Chaos begged me to, I swear this isn't my doing."

"Begged you to _what_?"

After a brief silence, Tikal began to speak once again. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tikal.", she held out her hand to shake. After a few seconds, Knuckles held out his hand and grabbed hers to shake.

"I'm Knuckles.", he said.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Knuckles, but I must get going.", she said while hurriedly taking her "stuff" away from Knuckles, and with that, she continued to walk Knuckles's opposite direction. Knuckled turned around and stared as she ran off in a rush. A very light blush began to form on his cheeks as he continued to stare in her general direction.

 _Wow, she's beautiful…_ , he thought to himself. _I wonder what she's up to…_ He got out of his trance when his mind went back to Imperator Ix. "I gotta keep moving if I'm gonna challenge this 'Imperator Ix' to a battle.", he mumbled to himself, and continued to walk in his intended direction.

While he continued to walk straight, he didn't notice a suspicious being spying on him fro above a large tree, nor did he hear him expel a throaty chuckle. He brought his arms behind his back. "So, our rival clan's got a new soldier on their team, huh? Well, I'd like to see just how worthy he is…", he mumbled under his breath with a gruff voice.

He jumped several feet from the branch and toward Knuckles. Knuckles stumbled backward when the caped being suddenly appeared before him. With one arm, he got from his squatted position and stood straight. Knuckles growled. "Hey! What's the big idea, getting in my way like that!?", he growled.

He didn't respond. Knuckles punched his fist in his other hand. "Oh, so _you're_ Imperator IX. Well, when I'm finished with you, you're gonna wish you never jumped in my way!", he threatened, then brought his fist up and ran toward him.

He simply chuckled. He brought a hand, one that was carrying a scepter, close to his chest. "I don't think you know _just_ who I am…", he said, then brought his scepter toward Knuckles, countering his attack with a powerful green energy beam; he was flung several feet away from him and into a nearby tree. After he got up, he began to huff violently; he wasn't just going to let his opponent attack him like that. After a few more unsuccessful attempts to land a blow on him, he grew exhausted. "Just...who _are_ you…?", he asked between breaths.

Imperator Ix chuckled. They stood still for several brief seconds before he began to speak once again. "I am the most powerful member of the Nocturnus Clan, and my cosmic powers highly outweigh your brute strength. Once my clan and I take possession of the 7 Chaos Emeralds, you and your clan will die under my hands.", he explained.

"Hmph. Well, if you insist, then we'll have a battle later on. My clan against yours. We're pretty strong ourselves, but if you think you can beat us, then just try it...", he growled.

"Challenge accepted. One problem: you won't know when we'll show up to battle. Who knows? Maybe it'll be tonight, tomorrow, maybe _never_! Only time can tell, but when the time comes, no one will be able to save you. Not even Shade can save you...", he said the last sentence with a chuckle.

" _Shade_?", Knuckles asked.

"Why, yes. That disobedient woman who just so happens to be one of my best soldiers..."

Ix used his scepter once again to shoot out a massive green energy ball. Knuckles swiftly dive rolled out of its way and, before he could attack once again, landed a massive blow on his face, one powerful enough to send him a few feet away from him. He bounced on the ground a few times before lying flat on his stomach.

He got from the ground. "Hmph. So you do have _some_ potential to stop me, but not enough…", he said as he began to levitate off the ground. When Knuckles saw this, he hurriedly tried to catch up to him, but not before he could escape. "Damn…", he mumbled in frustration. He turned around and walked back toward the direction of the Altar.

Once there, it was already dusk. He saw Pachacamac sitting on one of the planes of stairs with a blank facial expression. "So, did you find him?", he asked.

Knuckled cleared his throat. "Yes, and I challenged his clan to a battle like you wanted us to.", he explained. He looked around, only to see not a single other echidna in sight. " Where are the other soldiers?", he asked.

Pachacamac sighed. "Hell if I know…", he groaned, then looked up at the Master Emerald. "My daughter should be here by now…", he said.

Knuckles sat down next to him. "Who's your daughter?", he asked.

"Her name is Tikal. She is the guardian of the Master Emerald. She's a good girl, but, damn, can she be a pain, sometimes.", Pachacamac explained.

Knuckles froze. _Tikal?_ , he thought. _I think I know her. Yeah, we bumped into each other in that forest. She seemed very eager to meet me. Man, was she beautiful…_

Pachacamac observed the absent-minded Echidna. "A penny for your thoughts, boy?", he asked.

Knuckles's mind snapped back to reality. He shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing…", he lied.

Pachacamac put a hand on his shoulder. "Son, I want you to go find my daughter. I'll guard the Master Emerald for the time being. Just be quick. I'm worried about her."

Knuckled stood up. "Okay…", he said before walking off elsewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I ship KnucklesXTikal. Again, so sorry about the delay. Happy August! ^_^.


	6. Sonic's Tragedy and Tikal's Dark Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Tails are searching for their red friend in Station Square before running into 2 villains; Knuckles finds out that Tikal is not quite what she seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Summary has also been edited. Please enjoy! ^_^

_6 - Sonic's Tragedy and Tikal's Dark Secret_

Meanwhile in Station Square, Sonic and Tails were continuing their search for Knuckles. They searched the Station Square Train Station, the Hotel, even the sewers, but no sign of Knuckles has been found.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Where _is_ that Knucklehead?", he mumbled under his breath.

They continued to explore the city to find Knuckles until they abruptly stopped. They looked up to see none other than an egg-shaped man with an evil smirk on his face.

"Eggman?", Tails asked.

They also saw an ebony hedgehog that looked very similar to Sonic, but his spikes sported a crimson stripe drawn across them vertically. Four of his spikes pointed upward and he sported a tuft of white fur on his chest; he looked to be an evil entity of Sonic. He had no irises or pupils and portrayed a blank stare. He stood straight and didn't move a muscle.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Shadow?", he asked. "Didn't you die after that raid at G.U.N.'s quarters?" Apparently, Sonic knew about that incident, too...

Eggman gloated. "You're absolutely right, Hedgehog. He _did_ die, but I revived him with a single shard of the Master Emerald I embedded in his chest. After I shattered the Master Emerald into pieces I used that very shard to bring him back to life.", he said.

"Yeah, but you also made Angel Island fall into the ocean! Now, it's just a regular island!", Sonic growled.

Eggman didn't answer. Tails took out the other shards he had in possession. They all gave out a faint green light.

Shadow furrowed his brows and approached Sonic. "Well, we meet again, Faker!", he says before pointing at the blue hedgehog. "This time, I _will_ get my revenge!"

"Revenge? What're you talking about!?", Sonic asks.

Eggman chuckles. "The 2 of us decided to work together to destroy the G.U.N.", he explains.

Tails gives Eggman a confused look. "But isn't that _exactly_ what killed Shadow?", he asked.

Eggman wags his finger. "Not quite. The fact that we were trying to destroy them in the first place was what led to his death. We simply didn't have the right equipment, but _now_ we do...", he says before Shadow raised his arm and held up a piece of gold jewelry towards Sonic; it looked a lot like the one Tikal wore on her bicep. A sort of blue mist began to escape from Sonic's body and enter the piece of jewelry.

"Huh?", Tails said as he looked at Sonic.

"T-Tails...! I can't...move...!", he grunted while trying to break free of the powers from the jewel. Just then, his pupils disappeared. He then, very slowly, collapsed on his knees before laying lifeless on the concrete. Tails ran over to him and tried to shake him awake.

"Sonic! SONIC!", he shouted frantically.

Eggman cackled. "With that shard of the Master Emerald embedded into Shadow, he can do whatever he pleases, but if someone were to, say, "knock it out of him", he would just be a completely useless piece of junk."

 _So the Master Emerald has the power to sustain one's life, should it be embedded into their body..._ , Tails thought to himself. He looked at Shadow, seeing a green hue take over his body. _That must be the flow of energy coming from the Master Emerald shard that's sustaining Shadow's life._

He growled. He then ran towards the undead hedgehog and attempted to attack him, only for him to intervene and use the Chaos Spear on him, knocking him a few inches away from them.

"Hmph. How pathetic!", he said with a smug tone.

Tails slowly got to his feet. He gripped his left hand and winced in pain; he noticed it bleeding out slightly. He also noticed that one of the shards he had were missing. Nonetheless he ignored the wound and placed the other 2 shards into his shoe. He attempted to attack again, but before he could land a blow on him, both he and Eggman escaped by using Chaos Control to disappear from his presence, with Eggman following along.

Tails balled up his fist and scowled. "Damn, that Egghead…", he growled. He then got down to the unconscious Sonic's level and turned him over; he looked into his eyes; his eyes were slightly open; his irises were still present but his pupils have disappeared. His mouth was closed and his body was very flimsy. He leaned over to see if he still had a pulse. Luckily his heart was still beating and he was breathing fine.

Tails was somewhat relieved. "He's still alive, but all of his powers have been stolen, making him extremely weak.", he said under his breath.

Then he thought of something. He took out one of the Master Emerald shards from his shoe.

 _Eggman said that the Master Emerald shards can sustain one's life._ , he thought to himself as he brought his hand near his chest.

"I hope this works…", he said before he suddenly felt something strong hit him, like a sort of energy. He looked back as he suddenly felt it, albeit he wasn't sure what he was feeling.

 _What is this strong presence that I'm feeling?_ , he thought to himself. _Something's telling me that I should go find out._ And with that, he decided to go check it out; he propped the weak Sonic on his back and flew straight.

* * *

Knuckles ventured back into the forest to find Tikal. He figured that since he saw her here last, she would still be here somewhere. While still walking, he began to have several thoughts.

_Ugh, there's gotta be some way to get back home! Any way! I'm actually starting to miss Sonic's smug and cheesy attitude…_

His thoughts suddenly trailed off when he heard a sort of scratching noise, more like the gentle sounds of handwriting, and decided to follow its trail. The noises lead him to a more humid part of the forest, where the faint sounds of a waterfall were heard. He looked down to see Tikal with her legs crossed and writing in what looked to be her diary. She was heavily focused on writing what was on her mind that she didn't even realized that Knuckles was right behind her, looking over her shoulder.

He was in a state of shock after reading Tikal's handwriting. The words she jotted down inside her diary were not only horrifying to look at, but they also didn't seem like anything she would write, despite her, at this moment, what used to be kindness and innocence.

After a long silence, Knuckles walked in front of Tikal and pointed a "finger" at her before scolding her. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Tikal gasped. She quickly sat up and hugged the still-open diary in her hands. "How long were you here!?", she asked, completely startled from Knuckles's presence.

Knuckles growled. "Long enough to find out what you were up to!", he said. "Why would you want to do such a thing!?"

Tikal sighed in defeat. "Because Chaos ordered me to, and it's my responsibility to do so!", she replied.

_That's right. She did say Chaos begged her to commit such a crime, but why?_

Then another long silence. "You should go back to the Altar. Your father is worried about you.", Knuckles squatted and reached his arms behind her back. "Climb on.", he said. Tikal snorted at first, but nonetheless climbed on Knuckles's back. He stood up from his squatted position and ran back the way he came.

Once they finally made their way toward the Altar, they see that Pachacamac is no longer in front of the Altar. Knuckles looked around, but still no sign of the old man.

"I wonder where that dude went…", he said while squatting a bit to let Tikal down from his back.

Knuckled turned toward Tikal, who was holding her diary behind her back and gave him a sheepish facial expression. "Now that you know about my plan, promise me you'll _never_ tell anyone else.", she started before approaching him some more. "This is between _you_ and _me_ , and _us only_ , understand?", she asked seriously.

Knuckles was unsure at first, but agreed nevertheless. "Sure, Tikal…", he said with a husky voice.

She bowed. "Oh, thank you, Knuckles.", she said before turning around to walk away, but immediately turning back and pointing at Knuckles. "I want to trust you, Knuckles. Don't give anything away.", she warned him.

Knuckles nodded once. "Sure.", he said.

So Tikal made her way to the top of the Altar; Knuckles stared as she strutted up the many steps that lead to the Master Emerald without looking away even once.

A low-pitched, throaty chuckle can be heard from his left. He looked over to see someone leaning on the wall with arms and legs crossed. Knuckles approached the mysterious being. When he saw her, she didn't budge. Her black suit and magenta markings made it obvious that she was a member of the Nocturnus Clan, even if the glowing markings she sported were magenta instead of cyan.

Behind her covered face were closed eyes and an evil smirk. "So, you know about Tikal's plan now…", she said with a voice similar to Tikal's, but deeper.

"Huh?", Knuckles mumbled a bit confused.

"Tikal is planning on slaying Pachacamac if he gets too power-hungry.", she said. "Chaos practically begged her to. He knows his rage will get out of control should Pachacamac lose his mind, but if you ask me, I think she's lying..."

Knuckles crossed his arms and huffed. "And just how do you know that?", he asked.

He chuckled. "I prefer to be called _Firecracker_ , sir...", _she_ said

_Firecracker? What a dumb name..._

"Anyway, I overheard the conversation Tikal and Chaos had before you even showed up. But I think she may be lying if you ask me.", he explained, getting up. "You should probably stop her before that happens, that is, if that's the case. Also, you should probably resign from being a soldier of the Knuckles Clan before _you_ wind up getting _yourself_ killed.", he said before turning her back and walking away. "We never had this conversation.", he said from a distance.

Knuckles stared in his direction as he strutted away from the Altar. Knuckles developed a suspicious facial expression. _I wonder if he's some sort of spy or something..._ , he thought to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I really liked how this chapter turned out. Next chapter coming soon.


	7. The Brawl of Shadow and Chaos and Tails's New Ability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently both Shadow and Tails can sense Chaos's presence. Now they have to defeat him because of his anger, but things don't end too well for Tails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previous chapters will be edited so that the story makes more sense when future chapters get published. Happy Halloween! ^_^

* * *

_7 - The Brawl of Shadow and Chaos and Tails's New Ability_

Meanwhile, back in Eggman's fortress deep in outer space, Eggman had just finished dusting off the Death Egg Robot when he saw Shadow looking out a window. His facial expression was blank. "Doctor, please tell me…", he said.

Eggman approached him. "What is it, Shadow…?", he asked while standing next to him.

Shadow didn't budge. "How _exactly_ are we going to infiltrate the G.U.N without getting myself killed again?", he asked.

Eggman smirked slightly. " _Exactly_ how we did it before, except with a few _minor_ adjustments.", he explains.

"You see that thing you're holding? It contains all of Sonic's energy.", he added. Shadow raised his arm and looked at it; it was the same piece of jewelry that stole Sonic's energy. It glowed blue and a sort of steam encircled it. It might've had Sonic's energy absorbed within it, but he didn't believe the faker's energy would be nearly as powerful as the extraordinarily cosmic powers of a Chaos Emerald.

"You can use that to evade gunfire, because the shards won't do you any better; they will only make the powers you used to have  _stronger,_ but with that thing on you, you'll be  _even faster_.", Eggman explains before letting out a throaty chuckle and, after a few seconds, he disappeared from Shadow's presence.

Shadow took out the Chaos Emerald he previously had and tossed it a few times.

 

"So all _I_ have to do now is  _find the rest of the shards..._ , he says to himself. Then, all of a sudden, he jerked his head back. He faced the large hatch and stared at it for a few seconds. He turned his entire body around and slowly approached the hatch. His eyes were slightly widened, like he had just spotted something. "I sense a Godly energy from planet Earth…", he mumbled to himself.

This Godly energy was the same one that Tails sensed back in Station Square. It was a strong, rather intense, feeling of an extremely powerful presence, and neither knew why they were feeling it.

He raised his foot over the small hatch, like he was about to stomp on it and break, but instead he slowly placed it back onto the ground and took out the Chaos Emerald he had before. He gazed at the gleaming jewel for a few seconds before encircling a hand around it, allowing himself to harness the Chaos energy within the Emerald.

"Chaos Control!", he shouted, and with that, he teleported out of the space fortress and to wherever he sensed that intense Chaos energy.

* * *

It was now a stormy night in Station Square, and a soaked Tails had finally made it to wherever he sensed that strong presence. He also overheard some sirens and stopped by a red building, near what looked to be a crime scene, but it was actually far from that. Multiple police vehicles were parked in front of the entryway, completely blocking it, although Tails was simply able to fly over it and land behind the scene. Some policemen had their weapons pointed at their target, while others spoke into walkie talkies, supposedly to request for backup. None of them noticed Tails standing right behind them.

Some of the policemen were getting ready to fire at it. They pulled their triggers and shot multiple bullets at it, only for all of them to slip through the enemy without effort. He then counterattacked by doing a spin and using its...claw...to attack. Most of the men with weapons were swept right off of their feet and thrown great distances until they eventually hit the walls with brutal force, enough to produce cracks within them. Some were knocked unconscious from the impact with other policemen coming to their aids, while others simply limped back to their vehicles, backing down.

One of the policemen walked out of his vehicle and stood near its door. He pulled out a walkie talkie and brought it near his mouth. "This is the Station Square Police Department requesting for backup.", he spoke through it. "We've got an enemy we're dealing with. It's like an ugly monster made of water."

 _An ugly monster made of water?_ , Tails thought to himself before making a shocking realization. He gasped. _Chaos!_

He noticed that his senses became much stronger when he came closer to him. _So that's whose presence I was feeling. Apparently I'm able to sense Chaos's presence, but how is that possible?_

Tails looked around for any idle policemen, until he spotted one near him, the same one that requested for backup, albeit he looked almost unrecognizable now that his dark brown crew cut was soaked from the heavy rain. He ran in front of him in desperation and placed Sonic in his arms.

"Please, officer. Take care of my best friend. He's not doing so good.", Tails asked. The officer's eyes widened when he saw who he was aiding. Blue quills, red shoes-yep, that was _him_.

"Isn't this Sonic, the Legendary Hedgehog? The _Fastest Thing Alive_?", he asked.

Tails nodded. "Please, take care of him. His energy was taken away and now he's very weak. Please, make sure he's okay…", Tails pleaded.

The officer nodded. He opened the doors to the back passenger seats and gently placed the soaked hedgehog on the farther end. He then sat next to the weak hedgehog. He lied a palm over his forehead; it was very cold, like ice, however the heat in his palm warmed him up ever so gradually. After a few seconds, Sonic began to stir. He groaned weakly as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked at whoever was touching him, but he noticed that it wasn't who he thought it was.

Meanwhile outside the vehicle, Tails slowly approached the ugly water monster, who was simply standing there. The other policemen simply stared as he continued to approached the enemy.

He stumbled backwards as someone suddenly appeared right in front of him. He wiped some water that was splashed onto him and growled at whoever got in his way, only to see that it was Shadow once again. Right now, his back was facing him, his head was down and he was on one knee, using an arm to prop himself from the concrete until he stood straight. He stared at Chaos.

_So Shadow sensed the presence, as well. But how is this possible? It must have something to do with the Master Emerald shards._

He gazed at Shadow and saw that his Master Emerald shard made his body glow a strong green hue. He looked down at his hand and saw the same green glow coming out of his hand.

_One of the Master Emerald shards is inside of my hand! That's why I sensed Chaos's presence! But why does this happen?_

He looked back at Shadow, who has now taken out a Chaos Emerald. He tossed it around for a few seconds before preparing for attack.

"You…", he said. "You're the one who I sensed from outer space." He then narrowed his eyes. "I can read your thoughts…you're also searching for the shards of the Master Emerald.", he said with a very husky voice.

Tails was confused. _What? Now Shadow can read Chaos's thoughts!? This is getting weirder by the minute._ Then he realized that despite both having a shard of the Master Emerald embedded within a certain part of their bodies, only Shadow could read Chaos's thoughts.

_So if Shadow can read Chaos's thoughts, then how come I don't have a clue what he's thinking?_

Shadow continued. "Well, I'll tell you one thing: no one gets in my or the Doctor's way! I will find all of the shards and get my revenge!", he yelled out before pointing a finger at it "Whoever you are, you'll wish you never tried to fight me!"

This was his chance to attack. "Chaos Spear!", he shouted. Multiple spears of Chaos energy zeroed in on Chaos. It made some impact on Chaos, about 4 spears slicing through the top of his head, his right claw, the center of his waist (thus slicing him in half), and his left leg. The severed parts of his body floated there for a few seconds before the reassembled themselves back together. Although barely noticeable, Chaos actually became slightly weaker from Shadow's Chaos Spear. Tails just stood there behind him and watched.

Chaos approached Shadow, slowly at first, before running toward him and doing a sort of spin attack, using his claw to attack, only for Shadow to do a nimble back flip, quickly dodging the attack and gracefully landing in a crouching position. Shadow slowly got up, one knee at a time, and faced his side toward Chaos. The downpour that completely soaked Shadow's ebony and crimson fur made him look way more evil, presumably because of the dark sky that shadowed over him, making his flesh and fur appear darker in complexion.

Shadow saw Chaos's Emerald Green eyes grow brighter with anger. He saw the big, blue beast coming to him once again, but before he could land a blow on him, Shadow presented his Chaos Emerald once again. "Chaos Attack!", he shouted before running towards him and performing a flurry of kicks, each leaving some impact all over his body. The more Shadow attacked, the weaker Chaos got. But things drastically changed when after the attack, Shadow stumbled and Chaos grabbed him by his...well, I guess you can say his entire body, stretching out an arm, pinning Shadow against a brick wall. He grunted from the velocity of the attack; it gave him a bit of whiplash, as well as made him drop his Chaos Emerald. It bounced around for a few seconds before landing near Tails.

Tails looked down at it for a few moments. He was completely clueless on what to do with it. The last time he used a Chaos emerald was for his Tornado 2, but at this moment, he had no idea what to do with it. Tails squatted and was about to pick it up

Shadow saw that Tails was about to pick up the Chaos Emerald. He grunted. "Don't you dare touch it, Fox Boy!", he shouted. This only made Chaos tighten his grip and strengthen his hold onto the small hedgehog. Tails simply ignored Shadow's order and picked the emerald up from the wet concrete. Right after, Chaos shot a glance at the yellow fox. Tails jumped when he saw Chaos's frightening glare. His eyes were widened and and his heart was racing. He knew from those glowing emerald green eyes and creepy stare that he was next to be attacked. Tails just stood there, clueless.

 _Uh-oh. What do I do?_ , he thought to himself.

Then something else happened. _He IS looking for the Master Emerald shards._ He gasped. _Wait! I can read Chaos's thoughts, now! But I couldn't do it before…_

Then, as suddenly as ever, Chaos shot an arm towards Tails, about to attack. For Tails, it felt like he was in slow motion, like Chao's attack could kill him at any minute. Tails thought back at the first thing Shadow did with his Chaos Emerald. He slammed his eyes shut and looked away , his arm still jutted toward Chaos. He quivered as the nauseating feeling of hope went through his mind, the hope that copying off of Shadow would prevent his death.

"Chaos Control!", he shouted hesitantly. He waited for a few moments before opening his eyes and looking back at Chaos, realizing that Chaos's attack didn't kill him. In fact, it didn't even hit him; he noticed that Chaos was completely frozen in his attack. Shadow looked over to Tails in, though not visible, a state of complete shock.

 _He can perform Chaos Control…_ , the ebony/crimson hedgehog thought to himself.

Realizing he had no more time to waste, Tails quickly flew up and out of the way of a still frozen Chaos. Right after he moved, Chaos spontaneously unfroze and hit another brick wall, letting go of Shadow and turning into nothing but a puddle. The puddle that was once Chaos slid its way to the concrete and toward a nearby drain.

Shadow landed onto the murky ground beneath him and groaned. He slowly got up and faced Tails. Then his eyes shot up with shock. _He has a Master Emerald shard embedded within his hand!_ , he thought to himself. _The doctor said that if one had 2 or more shards embedded within them, they become more powerful. I must stop this fox from becoming any stronger!_

Tails let out a sigh of relief before staring at the drain. He, deep down, embraced the moment that he defeated Chaos, but that moment didn't last long when Shadow all of a sudden homing attacked him on his side. He grunted as the force of the attack sent him landing hard onto the wet concrete, further soaking him in the murky water beneath him. The attack's force also sent the Chaos Emerald and the Master Emerald shards he was holding on to flying out of his hand and into the hedgehog's hand. Tails simply lied there, face-down into the water. He glared back at him, only for Shadow to let out a throaty chuckle.

"I'll take these, now…", he said before placing the Master Emerald shards into his glove and Chaos Controlling his way out of the gloomy weather.

After laying there for a few moments, he just realized something. _Sonic!_ , he gasped. _I hope he's okay…_

Meanwhile in the policeman's car, Sonic finally opened his eyes wide enough. He weakly looked back and saw who was touching his forehead, yet he couldn't quite make the connection yet. "Tails…?", he wheezed.

When he finally came to his senses, he shifted away slightly. He looked to see not his furry fox friend with two tails, but instead a tall and slim policeman with a crew-cut hairstyle. "You're not Tails.", he said.

The policeman shook his head. "Your buddy was out there fighting that big ugly water beast. He told me to take care of you.", he explained before looking back at him from the window. He was struggling to stand up. He didn't look beat-up, however his fur was very matted, soaked, and quite muddy. The only injuries he had were a few scratches and both a sprained arm and ankle after Shadow Homing attacked him to the ground. Sonic looked back as well, and after doing so, his face turned to shock.

"Tails! I gotta go help him!", he cried out as he tried to stumble out of the car and perform a "homing attack", only for the policeman to pin him back down onto the seat. "No, Sonic! You can't move! You're still weak from...whatever happened to you!", he said with concern.

But despite Sonic's slow breathing and low heart rate, he nonetheless intervened by pushing away the policeman, trying desperately to exit the vehicle and come to Tails's aid, with the man trying to pin him down and keep him still. He understood the amount of concern Sonic had for his best buddy, but at his state, he just couldn't allow it.

After a few seconds of fighting each other, Sonic finally gave in. The more he fought, the weaker he got, and at this moment, he was just too weak to continue fighting the officer. He slumped back onto his seat, slamming his eyes shut and growling in frustration.

"Sonic, just stay here and rest. Now, listen, you look pale, you're not breathing well, and you're still cold as ice.", the officer said, a bit cross. He softened his face a bit. "Please, just do it for your best buddy. He doesn't want you dead…", he said, almost pleading.

Sonic didn't respond for a few seconds; he was just too weak to do or say anything. The one thing he could do was wheeze out a few more sentences.

"Sh-Shadow…", he barely whispered. He grabbed at his chest, signifying his difficulty breathing. "He took away most of my energy. I know that because I remember everything that happened before I got like this."

Now the policeman was quite curious. He looked deep into the emerald green irises that lacked pupils. "Please, tell me more.", he said, completely ignoring the fact that him doing so could cost his life. Sonic blinked once. "Well, we were looking for one of our friends when all of a sudden, we see Eggman and Shadow getting in our way! Then Shadow takes out this weird thing of jewelry, then I just... _see_ my energy absorbing into the thing, and before I knew it, I blacked out..", he was barely able to say the last part, the one about blacking out.

After a brief silence, Sonic finally let out the last of his voice. "I had Tails fight for me. He's such a good friend. Please, tell him that if I die, I'm leaving all the fighting...to him…", and after letting out his last breath, he turned his head away from the officer and closed his eyes, falling into what looked like a peaceful slumber, but it was far from that.

When the officer saw how still Sonic was, he lied a hand over his chest, then a devastating realization hit him like a brick on his head. He knew that Tails would be absolutely hurt from what bad the officer had to give him, but it had to be done...when Tails came back, that is.

After a few seconds, Tails limped his way back towards the vehicle. He stumbled over its door and opened it. "Is Sonic okay…?", he asked with an uncomfortably deep tone. Obviously he spent all of his time trying to fight for Sonic, so the officer's bad news would not only hurt him, it would kill him deep inside.

The officer looked back with an apologetic facial expression. "I'm sorry, man.", he sighed.

Tails was confused. "What are you talking about?", he asked.

The officer bit his lip anxiously. He was trying so hard not to make Tails upset, but if he wanted to know what happened, it had to be told.

"Your buddy…", he said, pointing at the still hedgehog. "Well, he's, shall I say, 'used up the rest of his energy'. I'm afraid he's…", the officer stopped to look at the slightly worried facial expression that took over Tails's face. Damn it all! He knew that this was going to end badly. Tails looked over the officer and saw the lifeless hedgehog just sitting there, his head facing away from them. From the opposite view, his eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open, his teeth exposed. He looked to be in a peaceful slumber, but Tails wasn't fooled by this.

Tails hurriedly climbed over to Sonic's seat and rested a hand over his forehead. He seemed colder than before, when the officer did the same. He rested it over to his cheek, neck, and finally to his chest. His heart had stopped and he was no longer breathing. The officer was absolutely right about Tails being killed on the inside. He took his free hand and grasped at his chest fur, signifying that his heart was completely broken into pieces, before hugging the lifeless Sonic, sobbing in utter sadness. The officer's face was filled with sympathy for the poor yellow fox. Apparently, he had 'lost' his best friend.

After a few minutes of crying, Tails finally had an idea. He looked into his glowing hand. With great force, he attempted to remove the emerald shard from his hand, but apparently the shard wouldn't allow it. Instead, the remaining power that came out of it made a sort of barrier, preventing Tails from even puncturing his own skin.

Knowing that that was his last resort at that moment that went down the drain, he weighed his head down and angrily banged his fist at the car's window. "Damn, Damn, DAMN!", he shouted, finally breaking the window. Sure, there was glass everywhere, but still not a single scratch on his hand, which could've actually worked if the shard didn't make such a strong barrier against it.

After an uncomfortable amount of time, Tails finally calmed down. He sighed and faced the officer. "Look, I'll see what I can do about this. You just stay safe, you hear me?", he said. He then opened the door with the broken glass and exited from the vehicle, grabbing Sonic and carrying him bridal-style. "Thanks for the help…", he said dryly as started to take off with his 2 tails.

The officer huffed and slumped onto the chair. "I hope the little dude finds a way to get his friend back…", he mumbled to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far the longest chapter I've written. Happy Halloween! :D


	8. Knuckles's Choice and Lamanai's Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tikal lets Knuckles decide if he wanted to return to his homeworld or stay in the past; Tikal has a flashback of how her grandmother met her tragic end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The text in italics is part of a flashback that Tikal has during this chapter.

_8 - Knuckles's Choice and Lamanai's Fate_

Knuckles continued to stare at the mysterious being. He stared with suspicious eyes, becoming wary of his identity and, possibly, doings. He might've given him some valuable information and even some advice, but he was nonetheless part of the Nocturnus Clan, and thus couldn't trust him.

He kept looking until he disappeared. Knuckles's facial expression softened and he crossed his arms. He huffed. "Well, thank _Chaos_ that's over.", he mumbled He turned to face the Altar and looked at Tikal, who was now facing the Master Emerald. She got on her knees and clasped her hands together. She uttered what sounded like a prayer to herself.

"The servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the Heart. The controller is the one who unifies the Chaos…", she mumbled.

Knuckles, curious of what Tikal was doing, decided to climb up the outrageous amount of stairs to find out. When he made it there, he stayed a little farther behind Tikal, hiding behind a nearby pillar. She then closed her eyes and rested her head over her still clasped hands.

"Oh, Chaos. Please give me the strength to fulfill my destiny, and if I die, you will allow me to be sealed in the Master Emerald along with you…", she barely whispered. Knuckles remained still and continued to watch Tikal.

Tikal reached for the Master Emerald, and it began to glow brighter from Tikal's touch. A mysterious blue light also began to take over the jewel.

A sort of green mist encircled the young echidna until it fully took over her body. He saw her quiver oh so slightly from the "Godly powers" that were given to her by Chaos. After the mist faded, she slowly looked back, only to see Knuckles watching her. Knowing that he was there, he jumped slightly in surprise, only for him to come out from hiding and scratch the top of his head in embarrassment.

"Oh, hey…", he chuckled. "I was just wondering what you were up to."

Tikal played with her dreadlocked hair for a few seconds before whipping her head back, her hair whipping back as well. "I was praying to Chaos.", she explained.

Knuckles nodded. "I see…", he said.

"I pray to Chaos everyday, and everyday he gives me the strength I need to fight in the war against the Nocturnus Clan.", she explained before grabbing his hand and holding it gently while looking into his eyes. Knuckles's cheeks blushed a very faint pink as Tikal looked at him. For the first time since...ever…, he didn't feel awkward in front of the girl. There was just something about her that just made him...comfortable.

She gave him a warm smile. "Shall we sit?", she asked.

Knuckles bopped his head in agreement. "Sure…", and with that, they both sat with legs crossed before the Master Emerald, with Tikal still holding his hand. The red and orange hues that took over the dusk sky bathed the duo with its gleaming shower of light. The glare from the sun actually made Tikal's eyes sparkle brighter, which made her smile even more gorgeous. Knuckles couldn't help but stare.

"Knuckles…", she said. "Did you want to join my father's army?"

Knuckles didn't say a word for a few seconds. "Well…", he started. "Not really. I mean, I love to fight and your father seems like a cool guy, but I'm still not sure I want to be part of a war."

Knuckles saw the very subtle grimace Tikal gave him after he mentioned her father.

Tikal gave Knuckles a look of worry. "Knuckles, don't you miss being back in your time? Everytime I see you, I overhear you talk about how badly you want to be back in your own time.", then she approached him just a little bit, resting her arms on his shoulders "Be honest with me, do you wish for me to send you back to your homeworld?"

Knuckles blushed a very faint pink due to how close Tikal was to him. He clasped his hands over Tikal's arms. "I can use Chaos Control to send you back, but because of my role as guardian of the Master Emerald, I will only be able to do this once. After that, you will no longer be able to return, and...", Tikal froze as a single tear beaded down her tan muzzle.

 _And what?_ , Knuckles asked in his head.

She didn't respond after that. Tikal could tell that Knuckles was indecisive at this point. Once again, several thoughts raced through his mind. _Why can Tikal only use Chaos Control once? Does this apply for all Knuckles Clan members? What was she about to say after she said that I couldn't return after I get sent home?_

Knuckles bit his lip. He would've happily accepted the offer, to be sent back to his homeworld for the rest of his life, to forget _everything_ about the past, to close this chapter of his life. This was probably his only chance to go back home, with his _real_ friends. The ones who stay with him through thick and thin, the ones that he... _missed_. Who knew? Maybe they were in danger themselves and needed his help at this very moment, but another part of him told him that he must defeat the Nocturnus Clan in order to save the Knuckles Clan, that it was his destiny to assist the clan that he has _never_ seen before in this war that, apparently, was happening now. Although Angel Island was dormant for the time being, he remembered that Imperator Ix had told him that "only time can tell…", so, technically he had no choice but to stay.

Knuckles tensed up. He felt like an Angel and Devil were talking to him, with the Angel telling him to stay and help his clan, and the Devil telling him to go back to his homeworld, but what did _Knuckles_ say?

He hugged the orange echidna close. "Tikal, look. I would not like to go home... _yet_ …", he says. "I won't do anything else until our clan is saved. After I defeat the Nocturnus Clan, that will be my chance to return home…"

Tikal smiled faintly, but the thought of performing Chaos Control at all kept her from being truly comforted.

"So why can you only perform Chaos Control once?", he asked.

"Because the guardian of the Master Emerald cannot handle so much power from Chaos Control. A long time ago, my grandmother suffered the fate of doing so after using it to defeat Imperator IX and seal Chaos back into the Master Emerald…"

_And then Tikal began to have a flashback whilst explaining..._

* * *

_It was just becoming dusk. In a Chao garden were Lamanai the Echidna, the guardian of the Master Emerald who, despite pushing near her late-70s, looked and acted fairly younger than she actually was, about 48 physically and mentally, and a young Tikal, who was around 6 years old at this time._

_Lamanai watched happily as Tikal giggled and played in a shallow pool with 3 Chao. "Look, Grandma!", she giggled while waving at her._

_She waved back. "Hi, sweetie! Grandma sees you!", she says, with a voice similar to the teenage Tikal's, but deeper. Tikal ran towards her and grabbed her grandmother's hand, pulling her towards the pool._

" _Come on, grandma! Play with us!", she says._

_Lamanai had some issues getting up, but after doing so successfully, she race-walked over to the pool. "Slow down, sweetie. Grandma has bad knees.", she chuckled._

_After another hour of splashing and tackling each other, the sky started getting darker. "Come on, sweetie. It's getting late.", she says as she swooped Tikal into her arms from behind, bring her back to the Altar._

_Tikal was a unique echidna cub; usually, to become the guardian of the Master Emerald, one would have to learn of all of its powers from its current or previous owner, but in Tikal's case, it was different; she was actually born with these powers. It's unknown how or why, but according to a very old legend (so old that it began existing about 500 years before Tikal was born), it is extremely rare, though possible, that if both parents were guardians of the Master Emerald, natural-born or trained, then there would be a chance that the latest offspring would actually be born with these powers, in which case this has occurred to Tikal. But despite this, her grandmother nonetheless taught her the necessities on how to become guardian because of their deep affection for one another._

_Tikal felt safer with her grandmother because during her lifetime, her father, Pachacamac, was very abusive to her, both verbally and physically. There have been a few occasions where her dad would make failed attempts to put her down in order to steal her extraordinary powers to manipulate the powers of Chaos, completely unaware of the possibly long-term effects it could have on her well-being. Most of the time, Tikal was a happy-go-lucky and peaceful cub who loved to play in the nearby Chao gardens with her grandmother watching very closely, however deep down, she knew she had a dark past, and at this moment, she had no idea that very shortly, it was going to get darker._

_The 2 made it back to the Altar, only to find that the Master Emerald had been shattered into pieces. Lamanai stared in horror and freight. Due to her age, Tikal wasn't quite sure what was going on at this moment._

_They saw a strange being dressed in capes and holding a scepter. Lamanai knew just who this was._

" _Imperator IX…", she growled. She held Tikal close, making sure she didn't set eyes on the evil being._

_They saw him slowly bring the hand holding the scepter in the air. Immediately after, the entire Knuckles Clan, which was about 20 members less than it is now, appeared, including its leader, Pachacamac._

_Imperator IX began to utter a sort of chant. A magenta mist began to take over Imperator IX's body and at about the same time, most of the Knuckles Clan army had collapsed._

_"The Chant of the Energy Snatcher...", she muttered._

_Apparently, this so-called "Chant of the Energy Snatcher" would steal the energy of others nearby and would be absorbed into whoever chanted it._

_In fact, to Imperator IX, the feeling of the majority of the Knuckles Clan's energy absorbed within him was so intense that he let out a very loud, ear-piercing roar, causing a massive earthquake to shake most of Angel Island. From behind him, millions of shards of what looked like the Master Emerald had been scattered all over the Altar and some even flew towards Lamanai's direction. She shielded Tikal with her own body after overhearing a yelp come out of her. Luckilly, neither were hurt from the flying shards of the emerald._

_From the ground, another being rose. It was blue and quite deformed. He had claws as hands and glowing emerald green eyes._

" _Chaos!", the elder echidna shouted._

_The caped being cackled as Chaos then began to absorb all of the powers of the Chaos Emeralds. Lamanai knew that this would not end well. What used to be a generic water entity was now a lizard-like monster, with sharp teeth and a very loud roar._

_Pachacamac and another bit of his army began to approach the now dangerous monster-monsters-before them. Imperator IX simply chuckled._

_But Lamanai wouldn't allow it. Still holding Tikal in her arms, she intervened. "Pachi, no! Imperator IX is much stronger than you think! You won't stand a chance against him!", she protested._

_The younger one simply scoffed. "And you think you can defeat it? Please, you're too old to even be walking!", he said as he pushed her aside. "Trust me, I've got this!"_

_But she left Tikal behind and intervened once more. "Pachi, no! If he chants the chant of the Energy Snatcher once more, then all of your energy will be stolen and you'll die...", the 2 remained silent for a while. "Please...I can't risk losing my other son..."_

_So Pachacamac had a brother, a brother who probably died some time before this war._

_"Don't worry, mom. I can do this..."_

" _Chaos, ATTACK!", the caped being ordered. Just before the rest of the Knuckles Clan could even touch Imperator IX, Chaos shout out a few massive beams from his mouth, injuring some of the soldiers, including Pachacamac._

_Lamanai looked over to the lifeless leader. "Pachi! My son! Are you alright!?", she said, trying to shake him back to life. She then looked back at the 2 beings before her._

" _It's no use. With the powers of your clan and Chaos's powers, you cannot beat us!"_

_She gazed at them with a developing glare for a few more seconds before placing a frightened Tikal to the ground. "What happened to father?", she asked._

" _He's okay, sweetie. Just promise me you'll stay here while I take care of this…", and a single tear beaded from her eye and down her muzzle._

_Tikal wiped the tear with her thumb. "Don't cry, grandma…", she said, wiping away her grandmother's single tear._

_They froze for a bit. Lamanai place her hands over Tikal's shoulders and gave her a serious look. "Listen, sweetie, before I go, remember that I've taught you the peaceful ways of life and how to guard the Master Emerald properly. Make sure that you keep up with the attitude once you become guardian. You understand me?"_

_The small echidna simply nodded. "Let me teach you a little player…", her grandmother said. She took one hand off of her shoulder and held the little echidna's hand with it._

" _Repeat after me. The servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the Heart. The controller is the one who unifies the Chaos…"_

" _The servers are the 7 Chaos...Chaos is power, enriched by the Heart...the controller is the one that unifies the Chaos…", she memorized and repeated, slowly but surely._

_Lamanai smiled and hugged Tikal close, going from weeping to sobbing within a matter of seconds. "Take care of yourself and your father for me…", she whispered between sobs. "I love you, sweetie."_

_Tikal slowly and gently rubbed her hands over her grandmother's back, comforting her. "I love you too, grandma…", she whispered back._

_After a rather long embrace, Lamanai looked back at the clan's enemies and ran over to them, picking up a Chaos Emerald in the process._

_Chaos only absorbed the negative powers of the Chaos Emeralds…, she thought to herself. But nonetheless, their powers along with my abilities to control the Master Emerald will, without a doubt, result in my last breath…_

_She wept a few tears before raising the Chaos Emerald. She was silent for a few seconds before shouting out a rather aggressive "CHAOS CONTROL!". Before her, the emerald began to gleam violently, completely turning Imperator IX into dust whilst restoring the Master Emerald and sealing Chaos inside, and blinding the poor, naive Tikal, who watched as the aggressive light took over her poor grandma._

" _Grandma!", she shouted._

_The last thing she was able to see was her grandmother laying there, lifeless. Albeit she did defeat Imperator IX and restore the Master Emerald with Chaos sealed within it, that was the least of her concerns._

_She ran over to her grandmother's beat-up body and tried to shake her awake. "Grandma, grandma…?", she called out. She never budge. This is when she realized that she had perished…_

_She sniffled quietly before calling out her name. "GRANDMAAAA!", she cried out, sobbing savagely. Her crying was loud enough for all of, or what was left of, Angel Island to hear._

_For the remainder of her life, Tikal knew that her life would never be the same without her grandmother, if anything, it would probably get worse with her father, the one who would constantly abuse her, around for the remainder of her life. She knew, according to her grandmother's teachings, that if her father couldn't raise her properly, then she would have to raise herself and keep up with her calm and peaceful attitude, to remain pacifistic to her people and to remember that violence was never the answer...but sometimes, it was the only choice if all else fails...right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lamanai is part of the canon, however I came up with her name; she's named after the archaeological site of the same name in Belize. I will post artwork of her on DeviantArt in the future. Let me know what you think.


	9. Knuckles's Realization and the Brawl of Shadow and Tails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tails and Shadow fight in Red Mountain; a new character makes an appearance and helps him along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new character will make a debut in this chapter. Also, surprise at the end! Please enjoy! :)

_9 - Knuckles's Realization and the Brawl of Shadow and Tails_

Tikal sniffled as she remembered these rather tragic events. She knew that her life was much harder than this, but she felt that it was best that Knuckles didn't know. She looked down to the concrete floor beneath them and sighed. "It's a shame; I loved my grandmother oh so dearly. She was always very selfless, and I appreciate her for sacrificing her life to save Angel Island, but I wish it didn't have to end like that…", she uttered, a very faint smile taking over her face.

Knuckles scooched closer to a sorrowful Tikal. "Your grandmother seems like a cool person…", he says. "What was her name again? Lamina?"

Tikal chuckled. "Lamanai, but some people would just call her Manai…"

"And she would call your dad _Pachi_?"

She nodded.

Knuckles took a moment to take in all that Tikal had told her, about the fate she would most likely suffer had she used Chaos Control even once. "So...she died because she used Chaos Control, and being the guardian of the Master Emerald, her body couldn't handle all of that power...so, you're telling me that if you were to do the same thing, then you would die, too?"

Tikal inhaled softly as she tried to fight back a few tears. "I'm afraid so…", she mumbled.

It took Knuckles another while to finally realize something rather tragic. Although he had never used Chaos Control before, there was a chance that doing so as the current guardian of the Master Emerald could kill him, leaving all his friends behind. Although they were occasionally an interference with his duties, he nonetheless couldn't imagine his life without them. They were _practically_ the ones who've taught him that having friends was a pretty amazing thing, especially since he grew up a loner.

"So...that means that if _I_ perform Chaos Control as well, then _will I_ die, too?", he asked, just to make sure that he wasn't just overthinking things.

"That depends...are _you_ currently the guardian of the Master Emerald in _your_ homeworld?", she asked.

"Well, ever since you warned me of those risks, unfortunately I am…"

They both hugged each other close. It took only a few moments until Tikal saw someone rather familiar standing far below the Altar. He seemed to be looking for something, rather _someone_. He looked from side to side whilst slowly walking towards the Altar. Tikal quickly broke the embrace and pushed Knuckles aside hesitantly.

"You must go, Knuckles. Who know what my dad will think when he sees the 2 of us together…", she whispered while shooing him away. Knuckles hesitantly stammered from the ground and shimmied his way towards the stairs, making sure to not make too much noise while doing so.

Tikal was quick to stand up and dust herself off, standing erect and with hands clasped behind her back. When Pachacamac finally made his way to where the Master Emerald was, she cleared her throat rather nervously.

He stood erect and uncomfortably close to the young echidna; it was a rather uncomfortable amount of time before he finally spoke.

"I need you to come with me. We have some business to take care of…", he said with a slight chuckle.

Tikal gulped. "Come to you, _where_?", she asked.

"You'll find out soon..."

Tikal bit her lip from the request, but nonetheless agreed. "Of course, father…", she says. As he turned away, she quivered, not from the cool breeze hitting her, but from something else. A _bad_ feeling, like this was supposed to be _more_ than just business.

They didn't realize that Knuckles had still been near the Altar during the short conversation. "His voice seemed shady. I better go follow them just in case...", he says.

* * *

It was past morning in Station Square. High in the sky, Tails was seen flying just above Casinopolis. Sonic and Tails had been to that place once or twice. It was full of gambling machines and pinball tables, which is what Tails and Sonic enjoyed the most. There was just something about being flung around a crowded table full of bumpers and flippers that they just enjoyed very much.

But now wasn't the time to reminisce the good times the 2 had together; right now, he had to save Sonic somehow. To bring him back to life.

At first, he _did_ have a clue on how to rescue his best buddy; after remembering that Shadow was reincarnated from a shard of the Master Emerald, he figured that it made more sense to continue finding the remaining shards, with or without Sonic's help.

Just in front of the casino, Tails spotted a rather familiar being from below. He examined her for a few seconds.

 _Pink hair, red dress, shopping bags-yep, that's her…_ , Tails thought to himself as he descended to where she was.

The being was walking her way home from a nearby grocery store. She seemed to be mumbling to herself about something. Something about... _Sonic_?

She sighed. "I can't wait to bake my special recipe pie for Sonic. Once he tastes it, he's gonna be so proud of me! I just hope I have everything I need…", she mumbled the last sentence.

She stopped abruptly when Tails suddenly landed from flight right in front of her. She jumped slightly. "Oh, Tails! I didn't see you…", she says, noticing Sonic's body in Tails's arms, completely unaware of his current state.

"Why are you holding Sonic?", she asked, curious.

Tails expelled a very long sigh before letting the pink hedgehog observe him from closer. She slowly and gently caressed Sonic's forehead and quills, noticing how cold he was and how pale the what-used-to-be peach parts of his skin were. She was concerned, but not as much as Tails was desperate. "What's wrong with Sonic? Is he sick or something…?"

"N-no, Amy, it's not that…", Tails tried to fight back a few tears, a few stubborn tears, that is. But no matter how hard he tried to fight, Amy wasn't being fooled by how obviously depressed he looked. She saw a single tear bead down the fox's muzzle. "Tails, why are you crying?...oh...don't tell me…", she uttered, discovering the devastating realization.

It was long enough until Amy finally dropped all of her groceries, letting them slide out of her arms and onto the concrete beneath them. She covered her mouth as she, as well, tried to fight back some tears, but she was losing this battle _way_ worse than Tails ever could. She quivered as she tried her hardest not to wail from the top of her lungs in front of a few pedestrians.

"Wh-what happened…?", she stuttered. "Who could've done this? How could they've done this. _Why…_?"

Tails sighed. "It's a long story,…", he said, but Amy wasn't just going to take _that_. _Long story!? I wanna know EVERYTHING!_ , Amy thought to herself.

She approached Sonic some more and slowly grabbed the hand facing opposite of her, bringing it close to her mouth so that she could give it a gentle peck. She continued to quiver as she slowly caressed Sonic's cold hand, breathing her rather hit breath against it, though not making a noticeable difference of any sort.

"I know how you feel...but I'm gonna rescue Sonic and bring him back to life! I just need to find more shards of the Master Emerald...and I could really use your help to do so…", Tails says.

Amy calmed down a bit and made eye contact with Tails, eyes still red from all of the water works. "Sh-sure, I would _love_ to help…", she says. "What are we going to do?"

"Right now, we're gonna keep walking around until this shard in my hand starts glowing.", he says, showing Amy his hand.

"Um, I don't see anything, Tails…", she says.

 _Oh, well I guess it's only visible when glowing..._ , he thought to himself.

"Here, help me put Sonic on my back. It should be easier to hold him like that..", he asked.

While Tails repositioned his arms to just below Sonic's buttocks, Amy grabbed a hold of Sonic's waist and arms and positioned him to lean against Tails's back, placing his flimsy arms over Tails's shoulders while they flopped against his chest. From the back, the position looked a bit awkward as Tails tried his hardest not to touch anywhere near Sonic's rear, but should Tails's arms be holding Sonic anywhere lower, he would for sure slip off of his shoulders and...well, it would only make things worse after that.

Amy approached Sonic's ear and whispered inside it, despite Sonic not being able to hear at this moment. "Don't worry, Sonikku. Tails and I will save you…", she uttered.

_And they headed off, to where, they weren't exactly sure…_

* * *

"Tails, are you sure you felt a shard of the Master Emerald _here_ in _Red Mountain_? It's too hot and dangerous for it to have possibly landed _here_...", Amy asks, unsure.

"Without a doubt. Follow me!", he says as he grabbed Amy's hand, running to the direction in which he was "feeling" the shard. Strangely, Tails wasn't feeling one, but 2 shards, but he seemed to feel a strange darkness within one of them. Luckily, making it through the volcanic location wasn't too hard, but alas, they couldn't quite reach the shard so easily. Before they knew it, the trio was surrounded with badniks; Spinners and Kikis, to be exact.

They heard a very low and throaty chuckle as an ebony hedgehog- _ebony hedgehog!?_ Well, then...in this case, none other than Shadow the Hedgehog, approached them. He smirked as he tossed a gold piece of jewelry from his hand, only to catch it again and repeat. Tails glared at Shadow, actually glad to meet him once again.

"Shadow the Hedgehog…", he uttered.

"Fox Boy, the one who can perform Chaos Control...", Shadow says right after. "You thought you were going to make it to that shard first? Well, too late! I already called it!", he says.

Tails groaned. "God...blast him...!", he growled.

Amy managed to get a glimpse of the jewelry that he was holding and saw a faint blue mist encircling it. She looked back at Sonic, then the jewel, repeating the cycle a few times before fixing her eyes on the ebony hedgehog, growling furiously at him.

" _You_ killed Sonic!", she yelled before pulling out her iconic Piko Piko Hammer. At least she knew _some_ of the story. "You're gonna pay for this!", she yelled furiously as she ran towards the hedgehog, only for Tails to calmly intervene by shooting an arm out in front of her. She was very confused and rather frustrated from the action. She wanted to kill this monster _now_!

"Amy, take care of Sonic. I'll handle this…", he growled before letting Sonic slowly slide from his back and into Amy's conveniently opened arms. She looked down at the lifeless Sonic and calmed down somewhat.

"Alright, Tails…", she agreed, sitting as far away from the soon-to-be fight as possible. She crossed her legs and laid Sonic on her lap.

Meanwhile, Tails looked back at his target. "I think the pink hedgehog is mistaken: I didn't _kill_ Sonic, I only took away all of his powers…", he explains.

"Same difference! All I know is that I'll beat you once and for all! For him...", Tails huffed.

The evil hedgehog scoffed. "After you let me take your shards? Please…"

Well, at least he managed to defeat Chaos, a God that was _way_ more powerful than any other being in the universe, but this was just a smaller, deformed entity we're talking about, but nevertheless, how hard could it possibly be to defeat Shadow the Hedgehog, a _dead_ hedgehog who is trying to get stronger from simply stealing all of the Master Emerald shards?

Shadow huffed and gently placed the jewel onto his bicep, officially wearing it for the first time. To his utter surprise, he felt a _huge_ rush of energy take over pretty much his entire body. It felt as if he felt...quicker, nimbler... _faster_...in other words, it felt _damn good!_ He could feel it all rushing within his body, and he knew that this fight was going to get _serious_!

 _Sonic's energy! His body is absorbing it all!_ , Tails thought to himself.

He breathed heavily as he took it all in; the energy, the powers...the _good feelings_...but he wasn't just going to finish Tails like _this!_ First, he had to, shall we say, "soften him up"...

The many badniks surrounding him came closer and closer to the poor fox, snarling and giving him evil grins. One of the kikis attempted to toss a bomb toward Tails, but Amy barely noticed and after placing Sonic flat on the ground and once again pulling out her Piko Piko Hammer, she ran towards the horde of enemies and jumped in between them and Tails, swiftly swinging away the bomb before exploding into nothingness.

"Amy, what are you doing!? You're supposed to be watching after Sonic!", he said.

"You said I could help, Tails, now let me help you!", she argued. "Trust me, I got this. Just go for Shadow! I'll get all of these enemies with my Piko Piko Hammer!", she said while swinging her giant mallet at some of the enemies, grunting with effort every time and knocking them away and right into the nearby pools of lava without any difficulties, and, man, could she swing that mallet...

Tails gave Amy a warm smile before facing his main target once again. The dense heat from the lava caused both to sweat profusely, which seemed to fit their combat-ready faces quite well. Shadow took out a Chaos Emerald and presented it. "With Sonic's powers absorbed within me along with the extraordinary powers of the MAster Emerald shards and this single Chaos Emerald, I could end you with _one_ strike…", he chuckled.

"Yeah, right.", Tails scoffed. "Then why couldn't you do it the first time? Why did you simply kick me last time?"

Shadow and Tails began to encircle each other slowly. "Why…?", he asked before slowly approaching the fox. "Maybe because simply killing you was going to be pointless. After all, you're able to use Chaos Control, something you simply learned after watching me do it. Because of that, you may be stronger than you think...but sadly, I'll have to take all of that away from you!", he explained, pointing at the jewel on his bicep. It continued to glow a dark blue as it continued to be absorbed within Shadow's body.

He then began to assume a sort of stance, as if he was getting ready to charge at Tails. "And now, we _FIGHT_!", he boasted before charging at Tails at high speeds, much higher than Shadow would've expected. Albeit it felt _hella good_ to have all of Sonic's energy absorbed within him, it _did_ make him feel a bit nauseous due to him experiencing these powers for the very first time, so it was going to take some getting-used-to to fully execute these powers without any sort of interference. He nevertheless brushed off the queasiness as he violently charged at Tails, using an elbow to land a powerful blow to his stomach.

Tails was flung several feet away from Shadow until he ferociously came into contact with a nearby rocky wall, noticeably leaving a few _large_ faults behind. He groaned as he became dizzy from the initial impact.

Tails had just readjusted to his surrounding before Shadow mercilessly gripped at Tails's neck and raising him several feet from the ground, choking Tails in the process. "With Sonic's exceptional speed and my brutal strength, you're no match for me, Fox Boy!", the ebony hedgehog cackled as he slammed Tails head-first into the ground beneath them.

He groaned in pain as he attempted to release Shadow's grip from his neck, but it worked to no avail. He gasped for air as he attempted to kick Shadow away from him, but the force was only enough to flip both over, with Tails on top of Shadow. He managed to release the tight grip from his throat and used what strength he had to repeatedly punch Shadow in the face. Although he managed to hit him every time, it didn't seem to affect him that much.

Amy saw the fight before her and attempted to come to Tails's aid. "Tails! I got you!", she yelled out before her path was blocked by a bladed spinner badnik and, right before she could say anything else, it approached Amy and sliced against her temple several times. She screamed in pain as she jerked herself away from it, destroying it for good before it could attack once again. She ignored the warm blood seeping down her fur and continued to fight the horde of badniks.

 _They just don't stop coming…_ , she thought to herself as more and more of them kept appearing.

Shadow managed to get Tails off of him by jerking his legs forward, flinging him off of him and back onto the ground. While he was still on the ground, Tails took a quick glance at the Master Emerald shard embedded within his chest. It glowed a bright green hue as it continued to sustain Shadow's life.

 _That's it, that's my target…_ , he thinks to himself. _If I just get that shard out of him, then It'll all be over. I WILL win, Shadow…_

He managed to find a nearby piece of debris from one on the destroyed badniks. _This should work_ , he thought to himself, but before he could get up, Shadow pinned him down once again, snarling as he did so. Although he struggled to do so, Tails managed to get the razor-sharp piece of debris near Shadow's chest. He was _so close_ he could do it, he just knew it...just a little bit closer, and he could get that shard and Shadow would cease to exist once again.

 _Almost...got it…_ , he thought to himself as he got the blade to _just barely_ touch his chest. He had the position, and he was just about ready to cut him open, however a sudden jerk of his arm accidentally hot Shadow on the left of his muzzle, making a shallow, yet long cut.

 _No blood…_ , Tails thought to himself.

Shadow got off of Tails and backed away slightly, gently rubbing at his cut. "You pesky little rat…", he muttered before taking out his Chaos Emerald once again. He assumed another stance, like he was getting ready to perform an attack of some sort.

Tails slowly got up while staggering a bit. He placed his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. _Well, at least I know where to cut him at next time…_ , he thought to himself before throwing the debris aside.

"Chaos...SPEAR!", he shouted. Like during their previous fight, the Chaos Spear sent out multiple spears of Chaos energy towards the young fox, who dodged all of them without trouble by flying over them.

But Shadow didn't give up so quickly. "Chaos...ATTACK!", he shouted, approaching him with lightning quick speeds. Tails acted quickly and grabbed a nearby sheet of rock, with Shadow performing a flurry of kick on, not Tails, but the rock he was using to dodge it. It seemed to work for the time-being.

Then, Shadow thought that this one last attack, the most powerful one that he knew at this moment, would for sure defeat Tails. But he didn't know that he wouldn't be so lucky soon enough.

"Chaos.. CONT-", he shouted before Tails threw the sheet of rock at the ebony hedgehog. Although he managed to destroy the thing with a single punch, the apparent distraction nonetheless allowed Tails to kick the Chaos Emerald out of his hand.

It flew a few feet away from them, landing close to the edge of one of the many pools of lava. Shadow shot a glare at Tails, who, at this moment, felt quite victorious. He exhaled sharply and chuckled.

"Now you can't perform Chaos Control anymore…", he huffed.

Shadow smirked. That's fine, I've got all I need _right here…_ , he says, referring to the bicep jewelry. "See if you can catch up to me, Fox Boy!", he boasted as he started running at lightning speeds.

 _Wow, that's fast…_ , Tails thought to himself, but then he remembered that now was the time to _run first, have thoughts later...and then defeat the one having thoughts after that…_

Tails made a few unsuccessful attempts to block the hedgehog, only for him to swiftly run past him.

"What's wrong, Fox Boy? Am I _too fast_ for you?", he sneered, stopping right in front of him just to add insult to injury.

 _Uh, yeah…_ , Tails responded in his head.

Tails growled and grabbed another nearby piece of debris, one that was long enough to act as a sword. "Well, if I can't outrun you, then maybe I can _overpower_ you…", he mumbled, getting into a fighting stance.

Shadow did the same and faced Tails. "Okay, we can do that…", he said.

Nearby, Amy was having a bit more ease at destroying the badniks, although she was somewhat hurt. "Be careful, Tails…", she says.

Tails simply looks back before refocusing his attention on his opponent. Tails took the first swing and attempted to go for Shadow's abdomen, only for Shadow to perform a nimple flip over Tails, using his weapon as a boost. Neither one noticed something bouncing away from them. After he landed, he tried to strike at Tails's head, only for Tails to quickly dodge that with his own weapon. After a few more seconds of swordfighting, both were violently pushing their weapons against one another, fighting for dominance. Then Tails thought of something.

"Amy!", he shouted. "Go get that Chaos Emerald over there! I want you to keep it!"

Amy fought her way out of the horde of badniks and raced her way to the Chaos Emerald picking it up and keeping it in her possession.

But to their surprise, this made Shadow escape from Tails's grip; he got back up and, despite looking beat-up, he fled the scene.

"Badniks, _retreat!_ , he ordered. They started following him as he fled out of the Red Mountain.

"This isn't over yet! I'll be back!", he shouts.

After a few moments, Tails got up and dusted himself off, breathing heavily as he tried to balance his beat-up body; he was very dizzy and a bit nauseous, too.

He faced Amy, who, like Tails, looked injured. "Is Soic still there?", he asks.

They see Sonic laying on his side, unscathed. "Yup, he's still there…", she said before looking down at her feet and, miraculously, it was a shard of the Master Emerald. "Hey, look! A shard!", she says, crouching to pick it up.

Tails approached her. "We can use it to bring Sonic back to life!", he says. Both give each other a warm smile before heading over to a still lifeless Sonic. Amy props him up against her body while holding onto his abdomen. Tails gently grips at Sonic's chest and bring the shard back, getting ready to puncture his skin and embed the shard within him. This _could be_ their chance to bring Sonic back to life.

But Amy knew what Tails wanted to do and intervened. "Tails, _no!_ ", she cried out. "You're gonna hurt him. He might bleed to death…"

"But I _have_ to, Amy! It's the _only_ way that we could revive Sonic so long as Shadow still has his energy!", but he knew that Amy was still not okay with his decision. He placed a comforting han on her shoulder and made eye contact with her. "Trust me…"

After a few moment, she finally agreed with a nod. "Go for it…", she whispered as Tails got ready, then all of a sudden he slammed his hand down against Sonic's chest, puncturing the skin and embedding the shard deep within his chest. After that was over, the shard was causing Sonic's body to glow a green hue and its powers were able to fully heal Sonic's wound.

Before they knew it, Sonic's slowly began to open his eyes, blinking a few times in the process, albeit his skin was still pale and his pupils were still gone.

A few minutes passed before a now-revived Sonic could finally adjust to his surroundings. "U-ugh, where am I…? Tails…? Amy…?", he muttered.

Amy helped the cobalt hedgehog to his feet and, after staggering a few times, he finally managed to regain his balance and after a few seconds, it seemed like he was back to his old self.

Tails smiled at him warmly before suddenly developing a pouty face, pulling him into a strong embrace and sniffling quietly.

"Don't you ever do that to me, Sonic, you hear me? Don't you ever scare me like that again…", he muttered.

Sonic slowly slid his hands upwards until they were lightly caressing Tails's shoulders. "Hey, buddy, don't cry. I'm okay, now. You saved my life, and I'm totally grateful…", he mumbled apologetically.

Amy joined in and hugged Sonic from behind. "Thanks, Amy…", he uttered.

He let Amy give him a light peck on his muzzle. "I'm just glad you're back, Sonikku…", she muttered. Sonic groaned when Amy called him that; he never really liked being called _Sonikku_ , but he eventually got used to it the more she called him that.

After a rather long amount of time passed, they all break away from their embrace. "Now, let's find Knuckles, defeat Shadow and Eggman, and restore Angel Island. _Together…_ ", he says. Both Tails and Amy nod in agreement.

_Yup, he was back to his old self again...kind of..._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter so far. I want this story to be as emotional as humanly possible. Stay tuned for the next chapter! :D


	10. Pachacamac's Punishment and Knuckles's New Design

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pachacamac nearly casts a spell on Tikal and describes to Knuckles should a clan member attack their leader, they will receive a punishment; Knuckles receives a new make-over from a body artist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story has been renamed and the majority of chapter 1 has been remastered. Enjoy! ^_^

_10 - Pachacamac's Punishment and Knuckles's New Design_

Knuckles followed the other 2 echidnas in what looked like another forest, different from the one he went to previously. This forest was denser and blocked out more sun than the other one, almost making it look like dusk. Despite the heavy amount of vegetation blocking his path, Knuckles tried to navigate through the forest as quietly as possible so as to not be noticed. But what he didn't know is that the other echidnas he was following were farther ahead of him, so they probably wouldn't notice someone following them, anyway.

Knuckles grumbled in annoyance as he swatted away the rather tall plants that persistently blocked his path. "With all of these plants in my way, I'll _never_ catch up to them…", he muttered, stepping over a few shrubs.

He didn't notice a dark being holding a string of firecrackers. He swiped its fuse against his thigh, lighting it, and threw it towards Knuckles. Knuckles stopped abruptly after hearing a few very loud bangs before his vision was blocked by a big cloud of smoke. The fumes from the firecrackers began to enter his airways, causing him to cough violently while wafting away the thin smog.

When the smoke cleared, he looked up and saw none other than _Firecracker_ , the same man who talked with him back at the Altar.

He furrowed his brows and growled. "What was that for!? Why are you getting in ny way!?", he yelled.

"I can't let you follow those 2.", he said, with that same deep, yet womanly, voice.

"But I need to know what Pachacamac is trying to do to Tikal! He already slapped her once and fussed at her!", he responded.

"Yes, but if you enter that cabin alongside them, there's a chance of you getting all of your energy stolen!"

Knuckles glared at him. "How do _you_ know that? What do you mean by that?", he asked.

"That doesn't matter! Let me handle him!", he responded.

Knuckles glared and assumed a fighting stance. "Not a chance…", he says before stepping back, a fist balled up and raised, and getting a running start. He ran towards the dark being with great speed, but before he could land a single blow onto him, he took out what looked to be another firecracker. He quickly lit the fuse and tossed the firecracker towards Knuckles, who kicked it back towards Firecracker. He caught it and waited for it to explode. He continued to hold onto it as it exploded in his hand, not even flinching a single muscle. He dropped it on the grass after it finished and took out another one, repeating the same thing as before and throwing it towards Knuckles. He repeated these actions several times, in which Knuckles would kick them away each time until he grew exhausted.

Knuckles bent over slightly with hands on his knees, taking labored breaths. "Now I see why... your name's... _Firecracker_...!", he panted.

The darker being put his hands Towards Knuckles in protest when he tried to stumble towards him. "Please just let me handle this. Only members of the Nocturnus Clan are immune to the Chant of the Energy Snatcher!", he says before running away, supposedly towards Pachacamac and Tikal.

"The...Chant of the Energy Snatcher!?", Knuckles gasped. He stumbled a few times before running faster than he probably thought he could towards the fleeing Firecracker and, with a perfectly timed jump, he pounced on him, tackling him and pinning him down. Knuckles scooted himself upward so that he sat on Firecracker's back while pinning his arms down on the rather moist sod beneath them.

"You mentioned the Chant of the Energy Snatcher! Tell me more about it!", he demanded, grunting with effort as he tried to pin down the Firecracker. When he didn't respond, Knuckles strengthened his grip on Firecracker's arms.

" _Well!?_ You got anything to say?!", he growled.

Firecracker simply chuckled. With swift reflexes, he brought his legs under his body and stood up, holding Knuckles up by his legs, and leaning back, throwing Knuckles on his back. He grunted from the force of his landing. He groaned as he became dizzy from the impact.

Firecracker performed a kick over over Knuckles, using his legs for support, and removed his grip from Knuckles's legs. They flopped back into their correct position and onto the grass.

Firecracker smugly placed his hands on his hips. "Here's something you should know: don't mess with _the Firecracker_!", he said.

Knuckles continued to lie on the grass, his groaning becoming silent as his vertigo faded. He "Oh, so it's fight you want, huh…?", he asked, completely ignoring Firecracker's warning. He slowly got up, stumbling a bit, and faced Firecracker. He stood erect and completely still. Knuckles's dizziness returned as a sudden change of blood pressure began to take place. He slowly assumed a fighting stance, panting heavily and wobbling around slightly. Although it felt like he was about to pass out, he immediately dismissed the feeling and charged towards the dark being.

"Well, it's a fight you'll get…!", he growled before raising his fist. He was about to punch Firecracker square in the face, only for him to quickly block his punch with a swift kick. Both attacks produced the same amount of force, resulting in both Knuckles's arm and Firecracker's leg remaining suspended in the air, both not moving much. This pattern persisted for several seconds until Knuckles felt a rather familiar source of energy from afar. He paused for a moment to process what he just felt.

"I sense Chaos energy from over there. _Lots_ of it…", he mumbled.

He then spotted something rather familiar on the grass. It was a red string of small cylinders with a green fuse sticking out of its side. He smirked as an idea developed in his mind.

Knuckles pushed Firecracker out of the way and retrieved the object, lighting the fuse the same way Firecracker did so. Right before it could pop in his hand, he threw it towards the dark being. Lucky for him, the firecrackers popped from right in front of him, leaving behind a big cloud of smoke. He used this spare time to run back towards his original destination. Luckily for him, the Firecracker was no longer following him... _at the moment_...

* * *

Pachacamac and Tikal finally stopped at what looked to be a shrine. Holding hands, they stopped by another shrine. This one was _much_ smaller than the Altar, about the size of a small well, and it was decorated with any colorful flowers and vines, with the shrine itself surrounded by verdant grass that was just the slightest bit damp. Tikal seemed to remember it quite well, as a sense of nostalgia began to take over her mind.

"This is the shrine where grandma and I would go whenever one of us personally needed a prayer!", she gasped. "But why are we here, _now_?"

"You'll find out very soon…", he says. Still holding her hand, he walked over to the other side of the shrine, sitting on his knees. She didn't notice him place a Chaos Emerald in the center of the shrine. He pulls her down very slightly with a tug of the wrist, in which Tikal responds to by nervously repeating Pachacamac's actions. They both sat on their knees whilst facing each other. Tikal nervously placed her hands over her knees, turning her head to the side while biting her lip.

"So...what business do we need to take care of?", she asks.

Pachacamac responds to Tikal's question by grabbing her right hand, bringing her arm to his chest whilst gripping the rest of her hand with the other. Tikal looked back at her father with a somewhat shocked facial expression. She was secretly very scared right now because she knew _exactly_ what Pachacamac was about to do to her.

Her facial expression of fear quickly turned to suspicion. "Why are you holding my hand, father?", she asks warily.

Pachacamac develops an apologetic facial expression. Tikal is not affected by this, however. "Tikal, my dear child. You know I love you, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made...", he asks with a soft voice. Tikal didn't respond nor did she change her facial expression. After some time, however, she responded with a faint nod, still not changing her facial expression.

He reached over and grabbed her other arm, holding it as well. He brought them close to each other and kept a firm grip on her hands. There was something about the tone in Pachacamac's voice that somehow made Tikal less wary of his actions. Recalling the many times in the past where he would use a spell against her to steal her powers, she tried to not be tempted by his attitude, as he tried to use the same type of attitude in the past that would eventually lead her to trickery, but this time his voice was sounding more sympathetic than ever, and Tikal just couldn't help herself.

He saw him close his eyes and weigh his head down. He began to spoke. " _I ask with all desire to receive the powers of the stronger ones and to become as powerful as Chaos, to help me overpower my enemies using their Cosmic powers. Allow me to sacrifice the stronger one and become stronger than them!_ ", he chanted.

Tikal gasped when she heard the rather familiar chant. _The Chant of the Energy Snatcher!_ , she practically screamed in her head.

A single tear developed from her eye and beaded down onto her muzzle as she began to have a flashback of a previous time that this chant was used. The previous war...the same day her grandmother died, she recalled when Imperator IX used the spell against the majority of the Knuckles Clan. Although she was too naive to wonder why back then, she, at this moment, was now wondering why she, her father, or her grandmother weren't affected by the effects of the spell. Maybe they have some sort of special power where they become immune to powerful spells.

"I recognize that chant all too well…", she whispered before, without warning, shooting a glare at Pachacamac. "You were planning to take away my powers!", she snapped.

She tried to loosen her father's rather strong grip on her hands; she pulled away from him as hard as she could, grunting with effort, but to no avail.

"Unhand me _immediately_!", she yelled before using a foot to kick Pachacamac square in his face. Completely forgetting about Tikal, he releases her and stands up, covering the spot in which she kicked him. The youngest of the 2 stood up as fast as she could, but before she could flee, the eldest of the 2 furiously charged at her and tackled her. She grunted from the impact of landing hard on her back on the rather soft grass beneath them. Pachacamac got up slightly and sat himself on Tikal's abdomen, pinning her arms over her head with one hand clasped over hr wrists. He took out a sort of blade from a back pocket located on his clothing and brought it close to the side of her clothed torso. She whimpered as the elder one approached her shoulder, his lips uncomfortably close to it.

"You shall _not_ attack your leader, is that understood?", he growled lowly, strengthening his grip on her wrists after saying the last 3 words of his command. He slid that blade over her torso, ripping the clothing and breaking her skin, completely bypassing her short fur. A line of warm blood seeped out of the cut and onto her back due to the position they were in. She didn't react to it, however.

Tikal shivered as her father's hot breath touched her shoulder like a brick. After he put away the blade, not bothering to clean it off, She gulped as rage began to boil in her entire body. She struggled to choke out a response of acknowledgement and instead, she snapped at him once more with a tone of rage. She squirmed as she tried to free herself from his grasp.

"Unhand me! _NOW!_ ", she yelled, completely ignoring her rather big cut.

Right after this, Knuckles exposes himself from the distant forest and charges at Pachacamac, performing a powerful punch against him. He collapsed on the opposite side of Tikal and landed on his stomach. Tikal scrambled away from him and hid behind a nearby bush, with only her head peeking out of it.

"What were you about to do to Tikal, Pachacamac?", he asked, rage starting to take over him.

The elder one simply chuckled as he got from his laying position and now got into a crouched position. "That's none of your concern, boy…", he replied.

Knuckles shot a glare at him. "Stop calling me _boy_! My name's _Knuckles_!", he snapped.

Pachacamac finally stood up, placing his arms behind his back. "You _do_ realize that you _just_ attacked you leader, hmm?", he asked, slowly approaching the younger echidna.

"I'm just doing what I'm good at, sir, but I'll tell you one thing: I won't let you lay another finger on Tikal…", Knuckles responds somewhat calmly.

Pachacamac chuckled as he walked circles around Knuckles. "You're missing my point, boy. I'm telling you that you just _attacked_ your _leader_. Remember what I said about that the last time that happened?", he asked.

Knuckles groaned impatiently. "What are you trying to imply?", he asked.

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you…", he says, taking out the same blade out from his back pocket. There was dry blood still on it. Knuckles gasped. _Is he about to use that nasty thing on ME?_ , he thought to himself.

He growled. "Is that supposed to be some type of punishment or something?", he asked, assuming a fighting stance, not giving a single care in Angel Island about that "don't attack your leader" rule.

"Now you know the consequences of attacking your leader, and don't try running away. I do this to all of my clan members if they misbehave.", he explains.

But before he could even lay the tip of the blade anywhere into Knuckles, he was suddenly hit my multiple explosions He coughed as he tried to waft away the expanding smoke. When the smoke cleared, he was met by nothing but grass and vines, and that's when he knew that _they were gone_ …

"Damn it…", he muttered. "I _will_ become powerful. One day…"

Knuckles and Tikal opened their eyes to see none other than Firecracker taking them away from the forest and back to the Altar. Knuckles looked around him to see nothing but sky and feel nothing but the strong wind whipping through his thick locs. Much of the same was said for Tikal, as well.

"What the- _Firecracker_!?", Knuckles gasped.

"You're welcome…", he says blandly.

Tikal whimpered as she held tightly onto Knuckles, wrapping her arms around his waist as she tried to not look down.

"Ohh...I've never been _this_ high off of the ground before…", she whimpered.

After a few more moments, all 3 landed back near the Altar. Knuckles and Tikal climbed off of the darker being and stood next to each other, leaning against the large monument of bricks.

Tikal took Firecracker's hand into her own and bent over until she was on her knees. "Thank you... _Shade_ …", she says.

 _Shade?_ , Knuckles thought to himself, confused. _You mean the GIRL that Imperator IX mentioned?_

She remained in that same position for a few more seconds before getting up once again.

 _Shade_ nodded once before turning her side to them, walking the opposite direction.

"I see Knuckles didn't heed my warning...", _she_ muttered to _herself_. "Well, at least he managed to abort the Chant of the Energy Snatcher without getting himself hurt..."

Meanwhile, Tikal faced Knuckles and took his hand, bringing it near her lips. Knuckles blushed from the sudden actions.

"Um, what are you doing…?", he asked.

"Thank you, Knuckles, for saving me. I should stop falling for such tricks…", she says, somewhat embarrassed from what happened just moments ago. Her warm breath hit Knuckles's hand and he shivered. He gave her a weak smile.

"Uh, sure. No biggie…", he says nervously.

Tikal removed his hand from close to her lips and smiled big, completely ignoring the events that happened moments ago. "Come with me. I want to show you something…", she says, pulling Knuckles excitedly to another direction while still holding his hand. Knuckles chuckles from Tikal's sudden change of attitude.

"Hey, slow down…", he said with a calm chuckle.

* * *

They stopped near a small pond. While there, they say another echidna, presumably from Pachacamac's army. He was one of the shorter and bulkier members of the clan, and he looked to be mixing something.

Knuckles took a glimpse at his face; there were white stripes on his cheeks, his locs, over his eyes, even near his abdomen. Whatever was in that small clay bowl must've been the same substance, hence its color. The echidna looked up to see Knuckles staring at him. He smiled.

"Good afternoon.", he greeted with a deep and gruff voice, stopping to shake his hand. Knuckles couldn't believe how short this echidna was; he must've been about several inches shorter than even Tikal was, who herself was a few inches shorter than Knuckles."You must be Knuckles, the new member of the Knuckles Clan. My name is Coba. I am Angel Island's most famous body painter."

"Hey, Coba.", he said, holding back a chuckle. "I saw that paint you have on your face. I figured that's what everyone else in the Knuckles Clan is wearing?", he asked.

"Why, yes. You see, this body paint is a part of our culture, as a way of saying that you're strong, brave...one of _us_ …", he explained. "It's been a symbol of our clan for many centuries."

"Yes, it's true. Many of us then pass it on to our offspring so that the trend can last a very long time.", Tikal adds.

"I see…", Knuckles says with admiration.

"So, what kind of designs would you like?", Tikal asked. Knuckles froze when she asked this.

"What kind of designs do _I_ want? You mean, _I'm_ the one getting the body paint?", he asked.

Tikal giggled. "Why, of course. Would you like stripes or circles?", she asked.

Knuckles crossed his arms and placed his fist on his chin. He thought for a moment before giving her his final answer. "Can I have both?", he asked.

The dwarf echidna smiled. "Why, of course. The more, the merrier! Come sit on this here rock so that I can hook you up!"

While Knuckles sat in front of Coba, Tikal faced her back towards them. "I won't peak until you've finished.", she giggled.

Coba placed the mixer aside and dipped his index and middle fingers into the white body paint, letting the excess drip back into the clay bowl. "Close your eyes, please.", he says. Knuckles does so and with a smooth stroke, Coba drew a line over Knuckles's eyebrows, eyelids, and all the way down to the bottom of his face.

"You can open them, now. Don't worry about smudging or anything; the paint dries really fast.", he said.

Knuckles slowly opened his eyes. Coba smiled and applied the rest of the paint onto Knuckles. He applied a semi-circle on his forehead, 2 stripes on each cheek, arm, and leg, and 3 big semicircles on each side of his torso and just over the white crescent on his chest. He finished by adding 2 stripes on each of his 2 most frontal locs, while adding a full circle right under them. Overall, this entire process took about 8 to 10 minutes.

Coba pointed towards the pond. "Why don't you go take a look?", he suggested.

Knuckles stood up and headed towards the rather clear pond, looking at his reflection through it. He admired it for several moments, idly tracing his fingers over the body art.

"Well, I...uh… _wow_...", he was lost for words as he stared at his new design absentmindedly.

"Let me see, Knuckles!", Tikal says excitedly, turning back to them and heading for the pond. She turned Knuckles's body so that he was facing her. She, too, was lost for words as she slowly ghosted her fingers over the many stripes and circles painted over his fur. He blushed a light pink as he barely felt her gloved fingers brushing over his fur.

"I... _love_ it, Knuckles. You look like...a _true_ Knuckles Clan member.", she said whilst giving his a warm smile.

"Yeah, I guess…", Knuckles replies.

"I see both of you are enjoying it. You 2 can move along, now. Body art is free of cost.", the dwarf says.

"Thank you kindly, Coba.", Tikal says, politely bobbing a curtsy at him before leaving Knuckles behind. Knuckles stumbled a bit before giving Coba a rushed bow. He quickly turned the opposite direction and followed Tikal. Now, Knuckles was a _true_ member of the Knuckles Clan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coba is my first ever OC in a fanfic. I will post artwork of him on DeviantArt in the future. Leave a review or keep reading as you please.


	11. 11 - Family Photo and Sonic's New Ability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow and Eggman remember their beloved relative; Sonic discovers a strange power that he develops during a confrontation with Chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to rewrite this one a few times, but it's out now. Please enjoy! ^_^

_11 - Family Photo and Sonic's New Ability_

Meanwhile, just outside of Red Mountain, Shadow ran back towards Angel Island, with the rest of Eggman's badniks following him from behind. He fled the scene so that he could make his way back to Angel Island and retrieve another Chaos Emerald, since Amy and Tails managed to steal the one he previously had. The cut that Tails had made on his muzzle had healed

While heading there, he began to think about Maria and Eggman at the same time; what kind of relationship did they have with each other? Have they ever even _met_ before? If so, then how come Shadow's never seen him in his life ever since Maria was alive?

He remembered what Eggman had said about the powers of the Master Emerald shards: 2 or more shards had the ability to make one infinitely stronger. That was why he was after _Tails_ right now instead of _Sonic_ ; because he had the majority of the shards, and with the majority of the shards, he could become stronger. Maybe Eggman's intent was to mays Shadow stronger so that they can _successfully_ infiltrate the G.U.N., since last time they tried to do so they failed ultimately, because "we simply didn't have the right equipment".

But then after thinking that, a sharp feeling of epiphany struck him like a brick to his head. _The Master Emerald shards had the ability to revive the dead_ , and he was pretty sure Tails had just a few more shards in his possession, so that meant…

"He's alive once again...", he muttered to himself, slowly developing a smirk on his face.

So not only did he have to retrieve the rest of the shards from Tails, but he also had to find a way to supposedly remove the shard (or _shards possibly..._ ) from Sonic. But right now, he needed to report back to Eggman to find out more about _his_ family history and why _he_ wanted revenge as well.

Also, he hated to admit it, but with Tails and Chaos also looking for the Master Emerald shards and with Sonic supposedly "revived", he low-key needed Eggman's help to find the rest of them before the other 2 did.

Shadow mumbled as he thought about it.

After another 10 minutes of tireless running, Shadow had finally made it to the fallen island. There were still 6 more Chaos Emeralds on their perches, so he thought that he could just take one more for himself. This time, he swore to himself that he wouldn't lose this one. Tails already has one; he doesn't need any more of them.

He smirked and headed towards the Altar, grabbing ahold of a cyan Chaos Emerald. He figured that he could keep this one in his possession for the time-being, since Tails and Amy already had the one he previously had.

He retrieved it and walked back towards Eggman's badniks. By that time, he had already made his final decision: he _needed_ Eggman's help, and along the way, maybe he could find out more about his relationship with Maria.

He raised his arm up and yelled out the words "Chaos Control", and in an instant, he and the badniks following him disappeared from the once floating Island.

* * *

Shadow and Eggman's badniks had finally made it to what looked to be Eggman's quarters; it seemed so because of the many machines and dim lights that surrounded them. The ebony hedgehog looked around, but couldn't see Eggman anywhere.

He looked around through the rest of the quarters until he found the scientist standing still with a photo in his hand. He took a closer look and observed the image. It was a picture of him and... _Maria_!? So the doctor _did_ know her...

Eggman sighed. Shadow didn't quite notice the single tear coming from one of the doctor's eyes, but he _did_ notice it drip onto the photo, wearing it down slightly and making some of it a bit blurry.

"What are you looking at, Doctor? ", the ebony hedgehog asked.

Eggman faced Shadow and chuckled nervously. "Oh, it's nothing, really..."

Shadow smirked. "Let me see that right quick.", he says, and Eggman reluctantly gave it to him. He observed it some more. This photo was of a young Eggman and Maria, both looking to be in their early tweens, and they were both smiling and standing behind an old man sitting down, which of whom must've been Gerald. Shadow tried to hold back a tear as he dragged a thumb across Maria's face. He must've _really_ cared for her, which was ironic since he didn't necessarily share the same feelings for most of the others who knew him.

"How long have you had this picture, doctor?", Shadow asked.

Eggman shook his head and sighed. "Long, _long_ time...me and Maria, we've been closer to each other than you think...", he explains.

Shadow nods. "I see. Oh, that reminds me. What kind of relationship did you have with Maria?", he asks.

"She was my cousin.", Eggman responds. "Although we were close, we weren't _nearly_ as close as you 2 were. I would always be on Earth and thus rarely came to the ARK to see her, but when I did, she always seemed to look weaker and weaker..."

"Yeah, she _was_ quite frail.", Shadow says. "That disease of hers _really_ took a toll on her life, that's why I had to keep her company most of the time."

Then he looked up. "So you usually stayed on Earth, huh? I guess that's why you never knew about me during the time she was still alive.", he says.

"Yeah.", Eggman responds with a nod. "I guess so..." He then frowned. "I still can't believe the G.U.N. would try to give her a lethal injection. I guess they were trying to give her a fast and painless death...", he says with a sigh.

Shadow shook his head. "I know. But I guess it made sense, since she was going to die anyway...", he says. "Still, they shouldn't have instead decided to _shoot her to death_ when I was being sent to Earth. I don't understand why they would do that to a 12-year-old girl...everybody wanted a piece of her..."

Eggman sighed before straightening up once again. "Well, no more time to waste here!", he says. "Shadow, continue to find the rest of the shards. I'll figure out a plan on how to get our revenge without going through the same thing as before."

Shadow nods. "Roger that!", he says before leaving. At this moment, what they knew right now was either right or wrong depending on what else they find out during their infiltration of the G.U.N.'s quarters in the future.

* * *

Meanwhile at Tails's Workshop in the present day, Amy sat on a block of wood while Tails stood before her, dunking in and wringing out a small washcloth in a bucket full of warm water. The yellow fox folded the towel in half and place it over Amy's temple, slowly wiping away the dried blood from her wound with a smooth stroke. Amy whimpered in pain as he did so.

"Sorry…", Tails uttered lowly.

"It's okay. It's a big cut, so it's supposed to hurt…", Amy replies.

Tails repeated this process a few more times before finally dumping the bucket of what was now tepid water into a distant sink. He crouched to check in the pantry below and retrieved a big adhesive bandage. He was about to place it over Amy's cut when she lightly pushed Tails's arm away, rejecting the bandage. "It's okay. I don't need it…", she says.

"Okay…", Tails says, placing the bandage aside.

They stood still for a few moments before Amy broke the silence. "So...where's Knuckles? I haven't seen him in a while…", Amy asks.

Tails sighed. "I honestly have no idea. We've been looking all over for him, but we can't find him anywhere…", he explains.

"So you mean that Knuckles is _missing_?", she asked.

Tails nodded. He walked away some until he stopped near a desk and retrieved a stack of newspapers.

Amy bit her lip and looked to her left side. "Well, aren't you gonna ask anybody if they've seen him?", she asked.

Tails continued to skim through the many entries in the newspapers. "Well, sure, but I was actually planning on requesting a search team from the Chaotix Detective Agency. Everyday, there's an ad about them on these newspapers. I'm pretty sure they can help us.", he explained.

"Or maybe you can post a bunch of "lost" posters around the city. They have those everywhere!", Amy says.

"Yeah, I guess...or _maybe_ Sonic's well enough to help us look. He's defeated Shadow and Eggman _many_ times.", Tails suggested.

Amy thought for a moment before completely changing the subject. "Speaking of Sonic, can you tell me what happened to him? You said it was, and I quote, "a long story"...", she asked.

Tails placed the newspapers aside and approached Amy. "Oh, yeah!", he exclaimed. He sat next to Amy, who scooted over so that Tails had space to sit. He cleared his throat as he began to tell the story.

"Well, it all started when we were looking for the Knuckles and the shards of the Master Emerald-that's another irrelevant story that I'll tell you later-and then all of a sudden, as if on queue, Eggman shows up, but he wasn't alone…", Tails explains.

" _Shadow_ was with him?", Amy guessed.

"Right!", Tails says. "And, get this: Shadow had a shard of the Master Emerald embedded inside of his chest, just like Sonic. Apparently, the shards have the power to sustain one's life if they've been killed, and Eggman used one of them to revive Shadow.", Tails continued.

"Wait, Shadow's supposed to be dead, right? Wasn't he killed after that raid at G.U.N.? Why did Eggman revive him?", Amy asked.

"Something about _revenge_ ; I don't really know yet. It's probably gonna lead to his "second death" anyway..."

Tails quickly shook his head, as if he was brushing off anything else that was irrelevant to the main story. "Anyway, before we get off-track, Shadow has this sort of jewelry that he wears on his arm. You probably won't believe this, but he used it to steal all of Sonic's energy and claim it as his own, and that's why he's so fast and all of that!", Tails explained.

Tails continued to recite the story to Amy while she listened attentively.

"Meanwhile, I get a shard inside of me after trying to attack Shadow…", he says while showing his hand to Amy. It gleamed very faintly as Amy continued to stare at it.

"But you're not dead. What's this shard doing to you?", she asked.

"Apparently I can sense Chaos's presence as well as read his thoughts. Shadow can, too, and I'm pretty sure Sonic's able to, as well…"

"Can't you sense other Master Emerald shards, as well? Like what happened at Red Mountain?", Amy asks.

"Yeah, apparently…", Tails responded.

Amy nodded with acknowledgement. "Continue…", she says.

"...and then, out of nowhere, I sense Chaos's presence. I asked a police officer to watch over him while Shadow and I fight him, but when I came back to check on him, he was...you know...I figured he used up the rest of his energy or something while I was gone…", Tails finished.

"I see…", Amy muttered.

"We're trying to find all of the Master Emerald shards and restore it before Shadow and Chaos find them…", he says.

"Wait, _Chaos_ is after them, too?", Amy asks.

"Yep…", Tails huffs before slumping over until he laid on his knees. "But I can't restore the Master Emerald and bring Angel Island back to where it was if both _Shadow_ and _Chaos_ are after them too, and to add insult to injury, Knuckles isn't here to help us, and he's probably the best treasure hunter around…"

"Well, can _I_ help?", Amy asks nervously.

"I guess so…", Tails sighed. "No sense in just the 2 of us looking for them. Plus, when one of us can't fight, the others fight for them…"

"Trust me, I won't get in the way or anything!", Amy says, placing a comforting hand over Tails's shoulder. When he faced her, she gave him a comforting smile. "I just wanna help you guys...", she says.

"Thanks, Amy…", Tails says. "Now, let's go check on Sonic…"

"Uh, I'll catch up with you later. I have to use the restroom…", Amy says, standing up to leave.

"Okay…", Tails says, waving to her.

* * *

Outside of the Workshop, Sonic was lying on his side while contently twirling around some long strips of grass and playing with the semi-moist soil below. He, however, immediately stood up when he felt a strong feeling taking over him. He faced to the direction in which he was feeling it and stared there for a while.

"I sense a Godly energy not too far from here...but what is it?", he mumbles to himself.

He shrugged it off and ran towards the same direction that he was staring at.

Farther away from the Mystic Ruins lay what looked to be a pond: a pond full of giant lily pads scattered atop the clear water's surface. The lily pads moved gradually from the touch of another force. This force was exerted from what looked to be another being; a deformed blue one at that. He slowly slithered across each lily pad, occasionally diving underwater with one graceful movement. The bright sun that shone on the water made the being stand out more.

He emerged from the water and climbed on another lily pad. His big eyes glowed a green hue as he continued to explore the big pond. He looked around until he saw a faint gleam of light from underwater. He stared into it for a few seconds before diving towards it, less gracefully than before.

He swam towards the gleam of light and used his...claws...to dig into the dirt at the bottom of the pond. He dug up what looked to be a few-several pieces of emerald-colored jewels. He recalled seeing other people with these jewels, and he also began to remember a certain jewel that had a color similar to these jewels. H knew where these jewels came from…

Sonic stopped on a dime right after seeing the pond. He tenses up at first when he stopped at the edge of the pond, but sighed with relief after backing away from the edge.

"It just _had_ to be _water_ , huh?", he mumbled to himself.

Just then, the beast excitedly emerged from the water, causing what seemed like most of the water in the pond to hit the shore. He didn't immediately realized how much of a splash he caused until he looked down at whoever's voice he heard.

Sonic wrung out some of the water from his quills. He looked at whoever emerged from the water.

"So _that's_ whose presence I felt...!", he says. Sonic's eyes widened when he saw who came out of the water.

 _Chaos!?_ , he thought to himself. _How could you possibly still exist?_ Apparently, he didn't recall seeing Chaos previously at Station Square. He looked into one of his claws.

_He has some shards of the Master Emerald. A lot of them..._

He did, however, recall seeing the fallen Angel Island without the Master Emerald keeping it afloat. He still wondered how the Master Emerald had shattered in the first place; according to Knuckles, the Master Emerald was _impossible_ to shatter, but now it's shattered into who knows how many shards. Despite Knuckles always boasting that he knew _everything_ about the Knuckles Clan, maybe there was _something_ that _he really didn't know._ How ironic…

Sonic eyed the beast attentively. He looked to be reading his mind like a book, almost, hence his facial expression.

"I see. You're trying to restore the Master Emerald as well?", he asks. Chaos said nothing; he continued to stare at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic gasped. "You're trying to seal _Shadow_ back into the Master Emerald!? So Shadow was sealed in there the entire time _along_ with you!" he exclaimed. Sonic needed no gesture from the beast since he can already read his mind.

"But how could Eggman have broken it? I thought it was impossible to break...?"

He gasped. "Wait a minute…!", then he closed his eyes.

He eventually began to have flashbacks, but what was strange about them was that there were flashback of events of which he wasn't present. He saw a vision of Eggman with a Chaos Emerald in his hand. He looked to be saying a sort of chant. The Master Emerald shatters and shards are scattered all over the place. He sees Eggman puncturing a deceased Shadow's chest with one of the shards, just like what Tails did to him. Shadow opens his eyes-

_So Eggman used the Chaos Emerald to shatter the Master Emerald...One's thoughts can do powerful things should they possess a Chaos Emerald to turn them into power! Saying those thoughts out loud can strengthen that effect!_

This flashback ended, but then another one played in his mind. One about _Knuckles_! He was walking near...a _light_! The light was emitting from where the Master Emerald used to be. Then...he _falls_ into the light? He ends up in another version of Angel Island, but he had no idea which universe or period of time this Angel Island was. Then he sees... the Knuckles Clan. He sees Knuckles standing in a group of lines full of echidnas from what looked like an... _army_?

_The Knuckles Clan? But they perished almost 4,000 years ago!_

That was true: most of the Knuckles Clan had perished after Chaos destroyed their island due to a violent war between them and the Nocturnus Clan. But he sees that Knuckles had entered that period of time when he fell in where the Master Emerald used to be, so that meant...

His flashbacks have finally a realization hit him like a bolt of lightning. "Knuckles is stuck in the _past_!", he yells.

He stood there before turning his back to Chaos, forgetting he was there. "I better go tell Tails and Amy!"

But before he could even start running, a powerful beam hit him on his back. He fell on the grass hard and groaned in pain. He laid there for a few seconds before he slowly turned to his back, his stomach facing the sky. Just then, he felt the force of one of Chaos's claws closing down on his neck. His other claw was aiming at his chest.

Sonic choked as he tried to pry off Chaos's claw from his neck with one hand while pushing the one near his chest away with the other. Chaos's claw was actually making it difficult for the blue hedgehog to breathe despite being completely made out of water.

Sonic continued to cough and wheeze from the claw's force. It got stronger as his claw got closer to his chest. The facial expression on Chaos face looked almost desperate, like he was saying " _Hand that shard over this instant or I'll force it out of you myself!_ "

Chaos easily smacked Sonic's hand away from his claw and raised it, preparing to dart for his chest. He was almost ready. Just a few more seconds, and…

Sonic's face grew surprised when he saw Chaos's claw had been amputated from his arm. Sonic looked up to see none other than Amy and Tails, who apparently came to the rescue.

Amy swung her Piko Piko Hammer around herself once. "Don't worry, Sonikku! We're here to save you!", she says.

The beast looked up at not Amy, but Tails. He furrowed his brows and got off of Sonic, pouncing on Tails in the process. He pinned his arms down with his claws and sat on his stomach. He used his foot, which strongly resembled his claws, and dug inside of Tails's sock, taking out the 2 shards that he had in possession.

"Hey, let go of Tails!", Amy shouts before swinging her mallet as Chaos, but before Chaos could get hit by it, he instantly turned into nothing but a puddle. Before Amy could catch up to him, he sunk his way under the sod beneath them, kind of like groundwater, while taking the shards with him.

Tails got up and dusted himself off. He checked into his sock to find that _Chaos_ had indeed stolen his shards.

"No! This can't be happening…!", Tails says while frantically looking for the shards.

Sonic got up and approached Tails and Amy. "Don't worry about that now, buddy. We'll go look for him later. Right now, we need to go to Angel Island ASAP.", he says.

"Why _Angel Island_? Did you find Knuckles?", Amy asks.

"You're not gonna believe this, but I saw a vision of Knuckles. He fell in that thing that the Master Emerald used to be in. There was a light and he followed it. Then he fell into a version of Angel Island that exists 4,000 years from now!

Tails tilted his head and gave Sonic a confused look. "You had visions on how Knuckles disappeared and you believe that he's stuck in the past?", he asks with pure disbelief in his tone.

"Yep, and I think he's gonna get himself caught up in that war if we don't get him out of there soon."

"You mean the War of the Clans?", Amy asks.

Sonic nodded. "I think we can make it there if we go it the same way Knuckles did: inside that thing…"

Tails bit his lip and nodded. "Well, on the plus side, if we _do_ find Knuckles, then he can help us find the rest of the shards...so let's try it!", Tails says. "Come on, guys!"

And they all exited from the pond. For the first time in a while, they were actually going to find Knuckles, since Sonic claimed to know where he was; it seemed like he gained a very odd power after being revived by the Master Emerald shard. Albeit he wasn't sure how, he was able to experience important events of which he wasn't a part of via visions of those events. What the trio didn't know yet was that they were going to have _so much_ more to find out than they already knew right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished. Expect the next chapter to be published so much earlier. :)


	12. Tikal's Secret Hiding Place and Knuckles's New Ability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tikal shows Knuckles around her secret hiding place; Knuckles discovers a new power that he never knew he had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Knuckles and Tikal; they become a little more intimate in this chapter. Enjoy! ^_^

_12 - Tikal's Secret Hiding Place and Knuckles's New Ability_

Knuckles followed Tikal as they headed somewhere else. Tikal grabbed ahold of Knuckles's wrist as she led them to another, supposedly "secret" place.

"Follow me. I want to show you my secret hideout!", Tikal says joyfully.

Knuckles stared at her flowing locs as she continued to walk straight until they stopped by yet _another_ forest.

 _Man, there sure are a lot of forests around here…_ , Knuckles thought to himself.

They continued to walk straight until they stopped near a small garden. Surrounding them were a pond full of shallow water, multiple porcelain pillars and many species of flowers. There were also about 5 Chao resting near the sun barely gleamed through the trees that blocked the sky, but when it did, it gave the garden a beautiful gleam of orange. Knuckles gasped with awe.

"Is this a... _Chao Garden_ …?", Knuckles asks.

"Why, yes it is. It's beautiful, isn't it?", she asked.

Knuckles scoffed. " _Beautiful?_ It's _amazing_ …", he says.

Knuckles had never felt so amazed by such a beautiful scenery in his life. The last time he came close to how he felt right now was the first and _only_ time he visited Casinopolis with Sonic and Tails, although bouncing around in the pinball tables made him quite queasy. He tried to hide a shudder as he thought of that memory.

Tikal led Knuckled towards the pool and was the first to step foot into the cool, shallow water, which reached to just above her feet. She tugged lightly at his wrist, as if she was asking him to come into the water with him.

"Come on in, Knuckles. The water's nice…", Tikal says with a pleading look. Although Knuckles wanted to protest at first, he instead gave her a warm smile and stepped into the pool while she continued to hold onto his hand.

The density of the water made it slightly difficult to walk at normal speeds, so Tikal instead walked around in the water slowly. She led Knuckles all over the big pool. He couldn't help but gaze at her long locs of hair that seemed to gleam from the sunshine that managed to squeeze through the forest's trees. Just spending this moment with her made him very happy, in a way that he's never felt towards anyone else that he knew. He bit his lip as Tikal stopped at the center of the pool. She faced him and grabbed hold of both of his hands. Knuckles blushed as the gaze lasted longer than expected. She looked into his violet eyes and smiled warmly. Knuckles made a measly attempt of doing the same, except the smile he gave her turned out very awkward.

She released her grip from his hands and placed her own hands on his chest. Her smile suddenly turned into an evil grin, and Knuckles immediately noticed it. He gave her a fearful look from seeing her rather wide smirk.

"Uh, Tikal…?", he tried to ask before she raised a fist. She brought it swiftly towards Knuckles, but before she could land the blow on him, Knuckles managed to close his hand onto her fist, using just a little bit of the strength he had in his arm to push away her fist.

She nodded proudly. "Not bad…", she says.

Tikal tried to overcome Knuckles's brute strength by pushing her fist closer to Knuckles with all of her might. When she knew that she was no match for this, she raised a leg and performed a sidekick on Knuckles's stomach, pushing him about 2 feet away from her.

"So you want to spar, huh?", he jokingly asked, raising a fist and assuming a fighting stance. "Well, we can do that…"

"Hmph!", Tikal simply scoffed as she got into her own fighting stance. "Trust me, you won't want to mess with me. I've trained in the most advanced form of martial arts that the Knuckles Clan knows…"

Knuckles chuckled. "Well, I might not know karate, but I sure do know _crazy_. I have a fair share of punches that I would be more than happy to show you…", he says. "Whenever you're ready…"

Knuckles then threw a punch, but Tikal immediately dodged it with a quick side-step. Tikal then threw a sidekick, but Knuckles managed to block it with his elbow. Occasionally, both were able to hit each other a few times, but not enough to bring at least one of them to the ground.

This pattern continued for some time until Knuckles decided to throw a more powerful punch that would've hit Tikal's gut. He missed, however, when Tikal turned around, and ended up with his back facing her. When Knuckles finally turned to face Tikal, she charged at him while letting out a sort of battle cry. She tackled him and he landed in the water on his back. Luckily, the water was shallow enough to barely saturate his dreadlocks. Tikal sat on Knuckles's chest and grasped at both of Knuckles's wrists and pinned him down. Tikal chuckled when he saw Knuckles's purposefully measly attempts to escape from her grip.

"Looks like _I_ win, Knuckles.", she says.

Knuckles chuckled as well. "Yeah, I guess you do. _Man_ , you're strong…", he says sarcastically while still trying to tease Tikal with weak escape attempts.

Tikal finally gets off of him and sits on her legs. Knuckles slowly gets up and does the same. They were both breathing with exhaustion. Knuckles then began shaking the water from out of his saturated hair. Tikal shields herself and giggles as Knuckles inattentively splashed her with the water in his hair. When he ceased his actions, he faced Tikal, who was smiling warmly at him. He then frowned.

"Tikal, can I ask you a serious question?", he asks.

Tikal shrugged. "Sure…"

Knuckles placed a hand on her knee. "Do you _really_ want to kill your dad because _Chaos_ told you to, or is it for a _different reason_?"

Tikal stared at him for a while. She hesitated at first. "Yes, of course Chaos told me to.", she lied. "I must _always_ follow Chaos's demands. It's certainly _not_ because he treats me poorly or anything…", she explained with a nervous tone of voice.

Knuckles grew concerned and stood up. "I think you're _lying_ , Tikal. Although I didn't read _all_ of what you said on that diary of yours, I feel like you're not too happy having your dad around. Plus, 'Shade' kept telling me that you're trying to hide something from me, so spit it out.", he says, quoting the word " _Shade_ ".

Tikal let out an awkward laugh that sounded more like an airy cough. "That's _nonsense._ That's just Shade lying to you. The members of the Nocturnus Clan were _always_ know for lying to us.", she says with a nervous facial expression.

Knuckles grew irritated. "Don't you remember what happened just moments ago!? Pachacamac was using that chant on _you_! You could've _died_ if I hadn't shown up sooner…!", he said, raising his voice slightly. "I have a _bad_ feeling about him…"

Tikal recalled the many times in her past where Pachacamac would try to steal her powers from her. She knew that she was immune to _any_ chant that allowed others to steal one's powers, but somehow she wasn't immune to the _Chant of the Energy Snatcher_. Indeed, any guardian of the Master Emerald was immune to such actions. Any _natural-born_ one, that is. Simply being trained to be a guardian didn't make someone immune to them. However, this particular chant could steal _anyone'_ s powers, thus she _really_ could've died from it.

But Tikal didn't let her past get in her way. Right now, she wanted to stick to the present. She had to find some way to convince Knuckles that this was Chaos's doing.

"Believe me, my father didn't mean _anything_. He's just misunderstood is all. He _never_ hurts me.", she says.

Knuckles was about to fall for those words until he took a glance at her side. A faint tint of blood has stained her shirt, and the water seemed to make that stain spread farther down it. He developed a face of surprise as he began to remember the events that happened moments ago; Pachacamac was holding a knife and threatening to cut Knuckles... _with a bloody knife_. He must've cut _Tikal_ with it first!

He dropped back down to her level and pulled up her shirt. He saw the long cut on her side; it still bled out slightly. Before, it wasn't bleeding as much, but now it was bleeding quite a bit, possibly due to the heavy exercise they had just done moments ago.

Enraged, Knuckles punches her directly on her side, which was still bleeding, pushing her on her other side. She grunted from the impact and yelped from the pain he caused her. She laid there on her side and never got up.

"Fool! He _is_ hurting you! He cut you! I'm pretty sure it's because you attacked him! I know that because he was about to do the same to me for attacking, too!", he yelled.

Tikal was lost for words. She stood back up, but all she could do after that was weigh her head down in frustration.

"I don't want you being near him _any more_! Understood!?", he yelled.

Tears began to well up in the younger echidna's eyes. She clutched her side as the kick from Knuckles made that cut bleed out more. She was breathing hard, trying to fight back angry tears. After a few moments, she finally had the courage to confront him.

"You can't tell me what to do! He's _my father_ and I can do whatever _I want_ with him!", she snapped. "And if I want to kill him, then god dammit, I  _will_!"

Deep down, she was surprised that she was able to raise her voice like how she did just seconds ago. If Knuckles were her father, then that would've been the end of her. She never really got angry at anybody that easily, anyways.

Knuckles grew angrier, but then when he saw Tikal with her head down sniffling, he lost the angry facial expression and tone. A strange feeling began to take over him, one that he only showed for his closest friends, especially Sonic and Tails, and even so, rarely. He immediately assumed this feeling was a combination of _sympathy and_ guilt, and he didn't quite understand why this feeling was way stronger than usual, either. Either way, he crouched down to her level and gave her a bear-hug. He rested his head on her own head. Deep down, Knuckles was surprised he even did  _this_.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…", he mumbled, gradually becoming quieter. Tikal made some measly attempts to break herself away from the hug.

"Let me go…! Release me at once…!", she tried to yell, but all that came out was a simple mutter followed by a few sniffles here and there.

"Calm down, it's okay. I'm right here…", Knuckled mumbled, pulling Tikal into a tighter hug. What he meant to say in his mind was " _God dammit, stay still so I can comfort you, you little brat!_ ", but the closer he got to her, the more that thought trailed off. It seemed like the tighter he hugged, the more she stilled, which might've been his intention. Somehow, the water surrounding them made the scene seem more romantic than comforting.

Right now, the only sounds heard where the gentle stream of the water and Tikal's sniffling.

"Why…? Why did you hit me, Knuckles…?", she asked, her sniffles dying down a bit.

Knuckles closed his eyes. "I just want you safe is all. I'm just getting used to how your dad acts. I'm sorry if I hurt you…", he says.

Tikal didn't respond. She was still a bit angry. She was still sniffling some and shaking slightly. Knuckles felt like his hugs weren't making her feel any better.

He stopped hugging her and placed his hands on his lap. "Tikal, what more can I do to make you feel better? I feel like I'm not helping much…"

Tikal pulled up her stained shirt, exposing her cut. Knuckles looked at her confused.

"Knuckles. Please massage my cut. I assure you, that will make it feel better…", she says.

Knuckles grew nervous at first, but his nerves eased when he slowly moved his hand to her injured side, but they eventually came back when he began to have an epiphany.

"You sure I won't look like a pervert if I do this?", he asked.

Tikal shook her head. "Positive.", she says.

 _Then_ Knuckles's nerves eased off. He slowly brought a hand to Tikal's wound. It seemed like the closer he got to her, the more nervous he grew.

"I'm not so sure about this, Tikal. I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to touch you inappropriately or anything...", he says with concern in his voice. Tikal simply chuckled.

"It's not supposed to be intimate, sily. It's what _all_ guardians do. Now, please massage it...", she says.

Knuckles decided to overcome his nervousness by slowly placing a hand on Tiakl's wound. _So far, so good_. Tikal shivered when Knuckles barely touched it. He quickly swiped his hand away when he felt her body quiver.

"Sorry. Am I hurting you?", he asks.

"N-no. It feels nice, actually…", she says.

Tikal grabbed Knuckles's hand and positioned it back on her cut. She guided his hand from side to side, his hand barely touching her cut. She sighed from his touch.

"Does this make you feel better?", Knuckles asked.

"Yes…", Tikal sighed.

"You can let go. I can do it, now…", Knuckles says. Tikal released his hand and he continued to gingerly massage her injury. He squeezed it a bit hard, causing it to bleed out more. She flinched and let out a yelp of pain.

"Please be gentle…", she says.

"Sorry…", Knuckles says. He continued his previous pattern; rubbing it from side to side. By then, Tikal began to giggle from his touch. Knuckles smiled when he heard her giggle; he seemed to be going a good job at not hurting her…

Then Knuckles found out that the giggling came from whatever else was touching her, which turned out to be a sort of Emerald Green light, and it was coming from... _Knuckles's hand?_ He wasn't sure why he was producing this light, but whatever it was, it was making Tikal a bit ticklish.

After Tikal's giggles died down, Knuckles noticed that her wound had disappeared. He slowly removed his hand from her side and looked at his hand confused.

"Um...what just _happened_?", he asked.

"You have the powers of healing wounds…", Tikal responded, pulling her shirt back down.

"Let me guess: _all natural-born guardians of the Master Emerald_ have this power?", he asked.

"Yes, but not just the natural-born have it. In fact, _all_ guardians can have the powers to heal others. The trained, however, need to gain the power by saying a _special prayer_ , while the natural-born like _us_ are...well, _born_ with this power.", she explains.

Knuckles let out a smug chuckle. "Man, I sure am _lucky_ , aren't I?", he asks.

Tikal nodded in agreement. "Indeed!", she giggled. She approached Knuckles. "Why don't I try it on you?", she suggested.

Knuckles looked all over his body for any open wounds, but found none. "But I'm not hurt…", he says.

"Hold still…", she says. She slowly approached Knuckles's shoulder and opened her mouth. When Knuckles realized what she was about to do, he backed away and covered his shoulder. He chuckled nervously.

"Whoa! What're you trying to do?", he asked.

"Don't worry. It will be right quick…", she says, removing his hand from his shoulder. She held it and continued to get closer to Knuckles, opening her mouth and exposing her teeth. She felt Knuckles's body shaking, presumably out of fear. She closed her mouth on his shoulder and bit down hard.

Knuckles roared in pain and pulled away, just in time for Tikal to release him. The bite only lasted for a split second, but it was _painful_. "Ow, damn it!", he yelled, looking at his shoulder. Tikal left behind 2 bite marks, and they bled out a little bit. "What the hell are you, some kind of _vampire_!?"

"I do not know what a _vampire_ is.", she says. She places a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it gently. Knuckles groaned from Tikal touching his still-fresh bite marks.

"That _hurts_ , Tikal…", he grunted.

"Just relax; I assure you that I know what I'm doing.", she says, giving him a comforting smile. She stopped when that green light appeared. Knuckles chuckled from that weird feeling coming from that light.

 _So it does tickle_ …

Before they knew it, those bite marks had completely disappeared. She removed her hand from his shoulder and he looked at it. He smiled as he rolled his shoulder, loosening his muscles a bit.

"This is kinda cool…", he says. "Can't we do it ourselves, though?", he asked.

"Sure we can.", she responds.

"Then why couldn't _you_ use that power on _yourself_?"

"Because we're _friends_ , and as friends, we have to help each other out, right?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I guess...sure…", he says.

Somehow, this made Tikal burst out in laughter. "You're so funny, Knuckles!", she laughed while giving Knuckles a playful punch on his arm.

"Yeah…", Knuckles responded with a sigh.

They sat there quietly for a while until they saw one of the Chao approaching them. He flew closer to them and encircled them. Tikal giggled from the Chao's actions. He landed on Knuckles's head and sat there for a bit. Knuckles cringed from it but Tikal couldn't help but giggle.

Then another Chao came over and crawled on Tikal's lap and faced her.

"Chao, chao!", it said.

"Aw, how cute…", she says. "I'll name you _Cholula_!", she says. She faces Knuckles, who was currently trying to get the Chao off of his head.

"...and you can name that one _Chuckles_!", she joked.

Knuckles tried to hold back a laugh and groaned from the unfunny joke. " _Chuckles_? Really?", he muttered.

"What? It's a _cute_ name!", she giggled.

"Yeah, but _please_ get this thing off of me…"

Tikal grabbed the Chao from Knuckles's head and handed it over to him. He nervously grabbed it and held it for a while. He couldn't help but smile at how cute the Chao was and he hugged it close to himself.

"Aw, you're kinda cute, Chuckles…", he says but immediately regrets calling it by its name. _Did I really just call it Chuckles?_ , he thought to himself

"I think he likes you, Knuckles.", Tikal says, petting her Chao on its head.

Knuckles chuckles (heh). "Yeah…"

Then Knuckles remembered the sparring session they had a while ago. "Hey, maybe we should train like this often. You know, just in case Imperator IX plans a surprise attack.", he suggested.

"Yes, indeed. We should definitely train more, and _harder_. We must do everything we can to win against the Nocturnus Clan.", she says. "My dad trains his army in the Knuckles Clan's most advance martial arts, the one that I trained in. Maybe _you_ could take a few lessons with them?", she offered. "I'll come along with you, if you'd like…"

Knuckles thought for a moment. He was still a bit uncomfortable with being around Pachacamac due to what happened between the 2 a while ago, but it was only because he attacked him without his permission, so all he had to do was listen to his master, and only attack when he says so.. Although Knuckles had his _fists_ to do all of the work, he thought that _maybe_ he could just learn how to do more than just _punch_.

"Alright, then. I'll do it!", he says.

"Good.", Tikal says. "You can start first thing tomorrow!". Knuckles nods. They both hold hands and continue to sit in the pool, with their Chao resting with them, as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems like their friendship has grown closer. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) They've also become more serious about this war. Next chapter will come soon.


	13. Shadow's Alone Time and Eggman's Master Plan (sorta)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief history of Shadow's demise is explained; Eggman is trying to come up with a plan to make their previous mission successful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we learn more about Shadow's previous chance to get revenge that eventually led to his demise. Also, a loved one of Shadow's make her first physical appearance in this chapter. Enjoy! ^_^

_13 - Shadow's Alone Time and Eggman's Master Plan (sorta)_

Shadow teleported out of Eggman's quarters and to a sort of lake. He stopped near the edge of it and looked down at the clear water beneath him. He began to think more about that photo of Maria, Eggman, and Gerald.

He now knew why _he_ wanted his revenge, too, and it was pretty much the same reason as his own. Still, he was a bit skeptical about the alliance that they've formed; they did the same thing 3 years ago, and _that_ led to his own death, but back then, Eggman didn't want revenge. Back then, he was simply trying to _help Shadow get his revenge_. Buth this time, he figured things would be different because not only did _Eggman_ want revenge this time, but they had also stolen Sonic's powers, as well as plenty of the Master Emerald shards. With this much power, their mission to infiltrate the G.U.N. and take back everything they lost would probably go better than last time; it might even be a complete success!

His thoughts trailed off as he continued to examine the lake's water. It looked stagnant and boring and there was almost no type of organic life in it. He was also quite bored himself. He shook his head and sighed.

"Maybe I should have some time to myself for a change. The doctor's plan is _really_ making my head spin…", he mumbles to himself.

He slowly dips a foot into the water before sinking his entire leg into it. When he did so, the water reached just above his knee. He sunk another leg into the water and slowly walked to another part of the lake, still close to the shore. Afterwards he sat in the water until he was about waist-deep. He felt no motions when the water hit his fur. He leaned back onto the edge of the lake and looked up at the sky. At this moment, he began to have a flashback…

_3 Years Ago_

_50 years ago, a close loved one of Shadow's was killed by G.U.N. forces when she tried to send him to Earth to help its people. For the time until his own death, he thought about her constantly; to him, she was like an older sister, one of the very few people that he cared deeply for. Another person he had the same affections for was her grandfather. With them together with him, they were considered a family. The relationship between her and Shadow grew stronger when he found out that she was diagnosed with Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, a incurable and fatal disease that would've probably killed her later on in her life. Due to this, Shadow had to give her as much attention as possible until her untimely death._

_Shadow recalled the day that Maria was killed by the G.U.N. She tried to send Shadow to Earth via Space Capsule, but the G.U.N. interfered by inflicting a fatal gunshot wound to her back._

_*BANG*_

_She grunted as she hit the ground, clutching her chest. Apparently, since there was blood also coming out of her chest, the bullet must've exited there from her back, where she was initially shot._

" _MARIA!", Shadow screamed as he came to her aid. Luckily, the rest of the G.U.N. were far behind so Shadow was safe for now._

" _Sh-Shadow…! I've been shot…!", she whimpered, tears beading down her soft cheeks. Shadow caressed them for a while before wiping away her tears. Her cheeks were indeed soft._

" _Shadow, just go! Leave me here! I beg of you!", she pleaded, still clutching her chest as it bled out._

_Shadow shook his head. "No! I won't leave you here! Not in a billion years!", he argued._

" _Just go, Shadow! Go to Earth and save the people! Get in the capsule and give those people a chance to be happy!" she wheezes before weakly reaching for a button that would eventually send Shadow to Earth. He glanced at the capsule before looking back at a wounded Maria._

_Shadow tried to fight back a tear as he hugged Maria's crippled body for a few brief seconds. He finally entered the capsule, while still gazing at her still bleeding body._

" _Maria…", he mumbled before she smiled to him, finally pushing the button. She watched as the capsule made its way to Earth's orbit. She closed her eyes and took her last breath._

_50 years later and 3 years earlier than today's events, we finally come to the events where Shadow and Eggman attempt to infiltrate the G.U.N. and get his revenge, but what was it for, exactly? Well, for revenge, of course! Shadow and Eggman planned on stealing back Maria's belongings and sending them back to Earth so that they could remember her._

_And with that, we enter a new scene…_

_The 2 finally make it to the ARK, the initial headquarters of the G.U.N. Their plan was to just sabotage all of their forces and steal back their possessions, then take them back to Earth once they're successful._

_Right now, the 2 remained low-key; they wanted to surprise the soldiers before actually doing anything to them. They were also unarmed; all they had right now was their own arms and legs. In other words, they planned on just beating them up. Probably not the best thing to do to armed soldiers, but what could happen later on could change that...or not…_

_They stopped by a cracked door. They peeked through it and saw what looked to be a room full of belongings that once belonged to Maria. They also saw a hospital bed, one that Maria used to lay in. It looked like the soldiers were working on something, but what it was, they were completely clueless. Nonetheless, they were about to retrieve all of those possessions and send them back to Earth, just like they planned._

_The G.U.N. were completely unaware of what was about to happen to them, nor did they even realize that they were right behind them. Now was their chance to initiate their plan. Shadow was to distract the soldiers while Eggman was to retrieve all of Maria's belongings and bring them to a space capsule that would eventually send them back to Earth._

_Shadow knocked the door open and assumed a fighting stance, with Eggman still hiding next to the door., So far, so good…_

_The soldiers turned a round and when they saw Shadow, they were unsurprised. "Well, well, well…, one of them said with a deep, yet smooth voice. "We meet again, Shadow the Hedgehog. The experiment that managed to escape via space capsule."_

_Shadow smirked. "That's right; I am the experiment that fled successfully to Earth. It's a shame you had to take away one of my most beloved treasures instead of just stopping…", he explains, referring to Maria._

_He places a defensive arm in front of his face and slowly approaches the soldiers, gradually moving faster. "And now, because of that, I'm finally ready to get everything back, so how about you just get out of my WAY!", he yells before jumping and kicking one of the soldiers in the face. The soldier stumbled a bit as he clutched the part of his face that received the impact._

_He soon performs multiple punch and kick attacks against them all until they were finally on the ground. Shadow stands on one of the soldier's chests so that their movement was limited._

' _Well, that was easier than I thought…', Shadow thought to himself._

_Shadow turns his head to Eggman, who was now peeking his head into the room. Shadow gives a firm nod of his head, which led to the initiation of the next part of the plan. Eggman returns the nod and runs in, grabbing everything they could find, including an old and rather valuable photo. Eggman finally exits from the room and waits for Shadow nearby._

_While that was happening, Shadow looked back down at the mess beneath him that was a few G.U.N. that he managed to beat up rather easily._

_He chuckled. "This is pathetic! How was I able to do that so easily!?", he asks. He then got distracted by a syringe that sat in a petri dish near the hospital bed. He retrieved it and saw a symbol on it that depicted a skull with 2 boned forming a cross. He looks down at the soldier he was standing on and pressed his foot harder on his chest, making him exhale sharply._

" _What's this?", Shadow asks, now suspicious._

_The soldier tried to look up at what Shadow was looking at, only for him to gasp and try to escape from his grasp. "Release that at once! I order you to put the syringe down immediately!", he yelled._

_Shadow scoffed and stomped on the soldier's chest, making him grunt in pain. "Not planning on it.", he says._

_He didn't immediately see the small note attached to the syringe. It looked very aged and worn down, which must've meant that it was written a very long time ago. He unfolded it. It read:_

_Substance contains poisonous ingredients that may be fatal if handled carelessly._

_Touching this substance can lead to death or serious injury._

_This substance is to be used on N.I.D.S. victim_

_(text covered by Shadow's thumb)_

_Please do not consume substance._

_Please handle substance with care._

_Thank you._

_Shadow began to skim through some parts of the note without much thought. "Substance contains poisonous ingredients…" "Touching this substance can lead to death or serious injury." "...to be used on N.I.D.S. victim…". Those were the only parts that got Shadow's attention. What he understood from it was that the G.U.N. were planning on using a fatal substance on Maria, a N.I.D.S. victim! Now Shadow was mad!_

" _You were planning on using this on Maria, weren't you!?", he asked._

" _No! Listen-", the solder says before Shadow interrupts him with a hard stomp on his head._

" _What's the meaning of this!? Why would you do such a thing to a poor little girl!? Why would you want to kill her with this!?", he asked. Ironically, he was asking all of these questions but not letting anyone answer them._

" _And you know what?", he asks. "I will not put it down. Instead, I will destroy it!", he says before removing his foot from the G.U.N. soldier, dropping the syringe, and stomping on it, shattering it and spilling its contents on the floor. He didn't notice the note missing from the syringe, but that was the least of his concerns. Right now, he had to escape to the nearest space capsule along with Eggman._

_Immediately after disposing of the substance, Shadow runs out of the room and catches up with Eggman._

" _Well, that sure took you long enough!", Eggman says._

_Shadow sighs. "Look, let's just look for the nearest space shuttle and get out of here!", he says. So both begin to make their way to a nearby space shuttle, but before even one of them could enter it, they were surrounded by more G.U.N. soldiers, although they didn't immediately notice until they started opening fire at them. Some of the bullets riddled through Shadow's back and into his body. He collapsed on the ground and he began to bleed out significantly. Eggman immediately noticed the gravely wounded Shadow and dropped the possessions right next to the capsule. He crouches to Shadow's level and attempts to pick him up bridal-style, but before Eggman could even touch him, one of the bullets that shot out of the soldiers' weapons hit his arm, he grunted in pain as the impact of the bullet caused him to stumble backwards and into the capsule. Eggman was about to go back to retrieve the possessions, but not before a soldier accidentally used a bullet to press a button that would eventually close the capsule and get ready to send him to outer space._

_Shadow tried to get up and push the button to open the capsule once again, but failed to due to how crippled he was. He gasped and wheezed constantly as death tried to take over his body rather aggressively. Also, the more he moved, the more blood he lost trying to do so. The strange thing about Shadow's blood was that it was green instead of red, possibly due to the fact that he was an artificial hedgehog. He stared at the capsule, as well as the doctor standing inside of it, with a furious glare, but right after looking at him, a bullet struck the back of his head, killing him instantly. Right after this happened, the capsule had finally sent Eggman to outer space. For the next 3 years since Shadow had still been dead, it was unsure how Eggman felt to see someone who knew his cousin equally as well as he did brutally killed by the G.U.N. with his own 2 eyes, but later on we might find out…_

_And finally, this flashback ends…_

We return to 3 years after those events. Shadow continued to think about the flashbacks that he just had. He realized that he had died the same was that Maria did: by at least 1 bullet that would enter through his back and exit through his chest. Although that was a minor similarity, he nonetheless kept it into consideration.

He swayed his arms through the water for a few brief seconds before completely diving himself in. He swam around for a few seconds before coming up for air. For the first time since Maria's death, Shadow actually felt relaxed and rather happy.

He continued this pattern a few times then emerged from the water again, shaking some of it out of his quills. "Oh, that feels so good…!", he sighs while grooming his quills briefly. The water sort of reminded Shadow of Maria's warmth whenever they would embrace each other. Just those few seconds of warmth made him feel the happiest, but the lake's water came very close to feeling the exact same.

Shadow slumped backwards and laid into the water, letting himself float over it. He looked up at the clear sky before him and closed his eyes, smiling. He sighed as the lake's water made him relax more and more.

* * *

Meanwhile in his headquarters, Eggman continued to observe the picture, which was the only thing he could steal back during their failed mission 3 years ago. He also began to wonder what happened to the rest of the stuff that they were supposed to take back to Earth with them. Maybe the G.U.N. destroyed it, maybe not; he had yet to know.

Along with that, he sighed with disappointment and shame. He began to blame himself for Shadow's demise; not only couldn't he rescue him in time, but Shadow, too, blames Eggman for his own death, so it was definitely a lose-lose situation for him, but _this time_ , however, he was sure that he could make this mission successful; they already had a Chaos Emerald, some Master Emerald shards, and, last but not least, Sonic's powers and energy. That was a good start, but he felt like he should change the plan up a bit.

He began to think for a moment, and after a few minutes, he had a full blown plan. "I must go tell Shadow! Hopefully he agrees with my ultimate plan!", he chuckled to himself before leaving elsewhere, presumably to Shadow's current location.

The plan that Eggman had came up with was pretty genius in his opinion; not only did they have the right equipment, but he managed to change the plan up a bit so that the mission doesn't turn out to be a _complete_ failure. He also wrote a note in case he forgot what his master plan was, that way, they could read over it. How the execution of Eggman's ultimate plan would go was yet to be known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter's not too bad; I had a lot of trouble writing it. Other chapters involving Shadow and Eggman have been edited. Next chapter coming soon.


	14. A Blast to the Past and Parts of the Master Emerald Restored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic, Tails, and Amy finally make it to the past, but things don't go too well for them while there; Chaos restores some of the Master Emerald and is out to find more of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I keep changing the title of the story! ;A; I'm just really having a hard time choosing something and sticking with it. But anyway, please enjoy this chapter! ^_^

_14 - A Blast to the Past and Parts of the Master Emerald Restored_

Tails, Sonic, and Amy were currently on their way to Angel Island via Tails's Tornado 2. Both Tails and Amy were in disbelief after what Sonic had informed them of. They wondered how Sonic even saw a vision, let alone seeing it itself. In his mind, Tails began to theorize how Sonic could've had the vision. He knew Sonic wasn't mental, so that was out of the question. Afterwards, he suspected that the shard of the Master Emerald inside of him had something to do with it, however that was out of the question, too, as he also had a shard in him, yet he didn't have any visions…

 _Yet_ …, Tails thought to himself, not knowing that there was absolutely no "yet" in this case in the future.

After a few minutes, the trio has finally made it to the fallen island. They approached the Altar, with Sonic going to one side and Tails and Amy heading for the other. Tails and Amy examined the perches that held the 7 Chaos Emerald; Tails noticed another one had gone missing.

"Shadow…", Tails groaned, crossing his arms.

Amy then turned to Sonic, who was standing near where the Master Emerald used to be. So far, _none_ of it has been restored. She saw Sonic with 2 fingers on his chin. He then scratched his head and developed a confused facial expression.

Amy, curious of what Sonic was thinking about, approached him and gave him a few gentle taps on his shoulder. Sonic looked back at whoever tapped him.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, Sonikku?", she asked.

Sonic looked back at the Master Emerald's perch then back at Amy. He sighed. "Well, I figured there was supposed to be a light coming out of this thing…", he said, pointing at the perch.

Amy looked at it and tilted her head. "Well, maybe it has its own time to come out…", she says.

Tails, still by the Chaos Emeralds, crosses his arms and faces Sonic. "And you're _absolutely, positively, 100% sure_ Knuckles went to the past from _there_?", he asked, pointing at where the Master Emerald used to be.

Sonic shrugged. "It's a possibility. It's worth a try to go in and explore.", he says.

Amy faced back towards it and thought for a moment. " _Maybe_ we could just try going in and see what happens…", she suggested.

Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "Yeah, it's worth a shot. Come on, Tails.", he says, beckoning towards his best buddy, who simply shook his head in defeat.

All 3 slowly climbed in, being careful that they don't trip one another. They all sat cross-legged, except Sonic, who sat in a fetal position. They waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened.

"Uh, Sonic? I don't think anything's happening…", Amy says, looking around.

Tails thought for a moment. "Well, maybe there's a different way to get there.", he says, pulling out the Chaos Emerald that they've previously stolen from Shadow. "Maybe we need to do something with _this_.", he says, referring to the Chaos Emerald.

He then sighed. "But _what_ , _exactly_?", he mumbled.

 _Maybe I could perform Chaos Control! I heard that chaos Control can be used for many purposes, but at most, I'll only be able to use it to stop time…_ , he thought to himself.

_Although this might fail horribly, it's always worth a shot…_

Tails raises the emerald from the ground slightly. "Let's hope this works…", he said.

Sonic then began to speak. "Wait, what are you-", only to be interrupted by Tails's -

"Chaos Control!"

And Tails was right. The only thing he managed to do was freeze time. Despite having many uses, he began to notice that he was only able to use it to stop time flow, which made some sense to him because he _just_ learned how to use it. He suspected that with some practice, he could master the other things that Chaos Control could do.

He examined Sonic and Amy, both frozen from Chaos Control's effects. He knew that the time stopping effects of Chaos Control were able to go away on their own, but he needed his 2 friends unfrozen immediately, but he had _no idea_ how to do so.

Tails groaned in his head _Man, I really need to learn how to use Chaos Control some more…_ , he thought to himself.

Then he had an idea. Maybe if he used Chaos Control again, then he could restore the time flow, but then again, this was just a random guess.

Tails shrugged. "Chaos...Control…?", he said with uncertainty. Before he knew it, however, Sonic and Amy were unfrozen.

"-trying to do?", Sonic finished after being unfrozen. He then realized what just happened moments ago. Sonic tilted his head and tried to find the right facial expression to use, however since he had no idea of how to feel about what Tails had just done, he decided to keep his facial expression black. Sonic tried to choke out a word, but now before Amy did it for him.

"Hey, Tails? Did you just perform Chaos Control?", she asked.

"Uh, yeah…", he responded. "I figured that using it would send us to where Knuckles was. Turns out it didn't work…", he says.

"Well, why don't you try again, buddy? You know what they say: if at first you don't succeed, try again until you die.", he says. Well, this was what _he_ said, at least…

"Well, I guess I could do it again…", he says, performing the actions he did previously. This time, he said the words a bit louder.

"Chaos Control!", he yells, but yet again, he could only freeze time. Tails slumped his shoulders and sighed. Weighing his head down, he incoherently mumbled "Chaos Control" once more to restore time flow.

Tails picked his head up and examined the Chaos Emerald once more. "That's funny. I thought Chaos Control had many other uses, but the only thing I can do now is freeze time…"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Well, maybe someone can teach you how to use it, but only Shadow and Eggman know how to use it properly and we _definitely_ don't wanna ask _them_ for help…", he said, chuckling slightly.

Tails sighed, letting out a barely audible chuckle. There was a short silence between the trio, and while they were still silent, Amy turned her head and found something rather interesting carved into the Master Emerald's perch. She crawled closer to the carving and traced a finger over it, skimming through it in her head.

"Hey, guys! Look what I found!", she says, beckoning to them.

Both Sonic and Tails crawl towards Amy and face towards where she was pointing at. Tails seemed rather fascinated by the text.

"Hmm... that's strange. It seemed to be some sort of ancient language, but I have no idea what it says…", he says.

Sonic took a moment to observe the strange alphabet. To his friends, these were squiggly lines, dots, straight lines every once in awhile, and more squiggly lines, but to Sonic, this looked to be the alphabet that the Knuckles Clan used to use to communicate with people more formally. The font looked to be in sort of a calligraphic style.

"I recognize these symbols. One day, Knuckles was telling me about the Knuckles Clan's ancient alphabet; something called Lindotsqui. He taught me some of the alphabet.", he explains.

"Well, can you translate it for us?", Amy asks.

"Eh, I could try…", Sonic says. He scoots closer to the text and eyes it carefully. He struggled to comprehend the structure of the letters since he didn't know the entire alphabet by heart, but he nonetheless tried as hard as possible to remember what Knuckles had taught him, and he did this by remembering what the symbols meant.

2 squiggly lines touching each other...like 2 hands intertwining with one another. He knew this meant "Wish" or "Pray". Okay, but then another one soon followed, so 2 of them, then.

After that, there was a curved line and 2...big circle crossing with each other. This particular symbol troubled Sonic a bit as he wasn't sure which direction the curved line was supposed to go. He eventually understood the symbol when he further observed the curved line; the part farthest from the circle was larger in thickness, meaning that it started there and ended near the circle, so it pointed at the circle. The circles also looked a bit like a heart. "Bottom" and "Heart" were the first words Sonic thought of when he observed the symbols. So far, so good…

The next symbol to come up was a vertical line with a horizontal oval overlapping it. Sonic already knew this symbol meant "Journey" or "Excursion" because it looked a bit like the staffs the Knuckles Clan used to wield, so he didn't need to stick to this one for long.

And, the last symbol was that of a triangle, with another triangle overlapping it. Sonic also knew what this symbol meant; it translated to either "Reside" or "Settle"

Then Sonic finally had the final translation. Overall, this entire process took about 45 seconds. "It says 'I wish, I wish, from the bottom of my heart, to explore the past and never depart'.", he read.

Right after Sonic read this, the bright light that they were looking for had suddenly appeared for the first time in a while. The trio sat in it for a few seconds before they began to feel very light under... _nothingness_ ' Well, _something_ worked, but they weren't exactly sure _what_.

"Sonic, I'm scared! What's going on!?", Amy asked, freaking out slightly.

"This is the same light I saw Knuckles go into in my vision…", he says. "Which means we're on our way to the past and thus we'll find Knuckles eventually."

But Amy was still a bit nervous due to how light she felt, and it made her a bit nauseous, too. She found some comfort by holding Sonic's hand _very_ tight. Tails and Sonic also felt the same, however they managed to hide it better than Amy.

After what seemed like forever, the trio were relieved to finally feel _ground_ underneath them. The light took a while to disappear, but when it did, they looked around to find themselves in a different location. They looked around for a few moments.

"Well, looks like we're here…", Sonic says.

"Are you sure we're not in just an alternate version of Angel Island?", Tails asked.

"Well, if we find Knuckles, or even _Tikal_ , then we _must_ be here...", Sonic responds.

They walked a few feet forward until they see 38 echidnas from a distance. Because of their signature pink fur and white body paint, they concluded that those must've been members of the Knuckles Clan, but something wasn't right: this can't be the _entire_ Knuckles Clan.

But then they saw a 39th echidna, as well. One that looked different from the others. Due to his bulky and rather old appearance and the fact that he was wearing more clothing than the other echidnas, he must've been the clan's leader.

Each stood 2-by-2, facing each other. They stood erect with their arms in front of them and their hands forming fists. They stared eye-to-eye with each other with determined facial expressions.

They heard him yell out the words "side stance!". The echidnas followed the commands and assumed this stance. Their left arms were positioned to their side as a defensive mechanism against incoming attacks, while their other arms were positioned just by their stomachs. They still kept their hands in fists.

"What are _they_ doing?", Amy asks.

Tails observed the echidnas with fascination. "I think it's some sort of self-defense class…", he responds. _I'd love to get into some of that. It'll really help me out in gathering the rest of these shards..._

Tails was indeed correct; the leader echidna was teaching his "students" how to defend themselves in case a, shall we say, "surprise attack" happened; they would be prepared to fight back using these skills of self-defense.

"Begin!", the leader says. The "students" perform a series of random punches and kicks without following a specific pattern. They grunted in sync with their attacks, as well.

"Maybe Knuckles is somewhere in there. Learning karate? I'm not sure, but it's worth a sh-", but then Sonic was interrupted by a barricade. Not only him, but his other 2 friends as well. Right behind them was a dark, masked being with a big cape draped on his back. He chuckled evilly as he closed the bottom of whatever the trio were trapped in.

"Hey, let us go!", Amy shouts, pulling out her trademark Piko Piko Hammer. She attempted to knock down the barricade a few times, but failed.

The dark being cackled before flying off, taking the cage with the trio inside of it with him.

What neither of them knew was that someone else was behind them, watching them the _entire_ time. It was none other than Firecracker-correction, _Shade_ , who simply stood into the distance with a blank facial expression hidden by her mask. He-nay, _she_ , was planning on following the dark being that captured most of Team Sonic, but before she could do so, she would have to inform Knuckles that _he had some visitors_ , but she would have to wait until he showed up.

* * *

Back in the present, Chaos had just escaped from the pond after Amy attempted to attack him. He was lucky he kept the shards that he found with him, as he desperately needed them at this point forward. He knew that it would just get harder and harder to find the rest of the shards, since 5 more people were looking for them as well.

Right now, he was on his way to Angel Island to bind some of the shards together. He was headed for this place in particular because he knew that the Master Emerald was only able to be repaired at its place of origin, which was the shrine at Angel Island. Only _he_ knew this, though, because as the God of Water who spends most of his time sealed inside the Master Emerald and protecting it from any outside force, he knew pretty much _everything_ about Angel Island and many of its other things, from its wildlife, to its civilians, to its history, _everything_.

Another unknown fact about the Master Emerald that only Chaos knew was that the Master Emerald was only breakable if one were to use a Chaos Emerald to allow it to do so, therefore _no_ outside force in the world could break it; not a rock, a drill, or even a sharp sword that could cut steel in half. This was the case because Chaos is able to protect the Master Emerald enough to prevent it from being shattered so long as _he's_ sealed within it. Well, this fact wasn't _too_ unknown, as Sonic sort of found that out at the pond when he was having those flashbacks.

He slithered his way through the Mystic Ruins's mountains, gracefully sliding down them and into the grass below. Afterwards, he crawled over to the fallen Angel Island and towards the center of the shrine. He crawled inside of where the Master Emerald belonged. He waited for a while before laying the shards across from him, in a straight line. After a few moments, the shards had finally bound together and formed...well, a bigger shard. It wasn't enough to restore the Master Emerald, but at least he made _some_ progress.

He sat and stared at the bound shards for a while, thinking hard about how he could retrieve the rest of them more easily. He stood up and looked around until he took a glimpse at some if the Chaos Emeralds around him. He approached one of them, a blue one, and grabbed it. He observed it for several seconds before walking away with it in his possession. He wasn't quite sure what he was about to do with it, yet, but he nevertheless kept it just in case.

He walked away from the island and back towards the mountains, but this time, instead of climbing up them, he exited them through a tunnel running from underneath them. He figured that the Chaos Emerald would get him somewhere other than _here_. Now wasn't the time to worry about Shadow; right now, he had some business that he needed to take care of.

But first, he needed to figure out what he was going to do with the Chaos Emerald. He didn't need to harness any of its Chaos Energy, since he was, well, _Chaos_. Doing so would totally defeat the purpose, since he can already use Chaos Control and everything else that could be used with the powers of the Chaos Emerald. Maybe he could absorb some of its power to become stronger, like what Imperator IX did thousands of years ago, back when Tikal's grandmother was still alive, but he didn't want to destroy the world, he just wanted to destroy Shadow. It _was_ true, however, that when Imperator IX was alive, he tried to destroy most of the Knuckles Clan, but he didn't actually _want_ to. Instead, the dark being had manipulated him into doing so, but no one to this day seems to know how or why, not even Chaos himself...well, he knew _how_ , just not _why_.

Chaos stopped at a body of water, near a makeshift train station. Usually, if someone were to come to Mystic Ruins, they would have to take the train service that ran here and in Station Square, but for Chaos, he could just swim his way from point A to point B. He slowly dipped himself into the water and swam gracefully to his destination. Right now, he was more determined than ever to defeat Shadow and reseal him inside of the Master emerald, but first, he had to recover the rest of the shards, and that easy going to be a _very hard_ , if not _nearly impossible_ , task.


	15. Knuckles's Lessons and Shadows Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles learns how to fight with more than his fists in this chapter and we learn a little more about Shadow's close bond with Maria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy! ^_^

Not too far from Pachacamac and the rest of the clan members, Knuckles and Tikal were hurriedly making their way back to the Altar to hang were both holding hands, with Tikal walking in front of Knuckles, possibly to lead him, however when they made it there, they saw none other than a self-defense lesson being held by none other than Pachacamac. They stopped and Tikal grew surprised.

"Practice _today_?", she asked. "But it's a _Sunday_!"

Knuckles shrugged. "I guess so…", he says, clueless of what Tikal meant by her comment.

Tikal brushed her confusion off and grew a smile on her face. "Well, at least you can get your lessons earlier…", she says, walking over to Pachacamac while still holding onto his hand. She hurriedly ran over to the crowd, with Knuckles following along. _I guess she's not gonna slow down anytime soon…_

Once Tikal stopped in front of Pachacamac, his back was facing her. She needed his attention immediately, so she hurriedly grabbed her father's arm and forcefully turned him around. He didn't immediately react to this.

"Why are you late, Tikal? You were supposed to show up an hour ago.", he asks with a surprisingly soft-spoken voice.

"Forgive me father. I had no idea practice was today. Knuckles would like to train with you to help with the war! Please allow him to do so!", she explains, pointing towards a somewhat helpless Knuckles every once in awhile.

Pachacamac placed a fist on his chin and thought for a moment. Knuckles already had his fists to do all of his work, but what they were practicing was more than just punches, so maybe he could learn to do more than just punch.

Knuckles gave the older echidna a barely noticeable pleading look. "So…?", he asked.

"Well, I don't see why not…, he says.

Tikal, happy to hear those words, happily bobbed a curtsy to her father. "Oh, thank you dearly father!", she says joyfully.

Pachacamac raised a finger. " _But_ , Tikal must change into her gi.", he says.

"Right away, father.", she says, running to the Altar to change out of her trademark shirt and skirt.

Pachacamac placed a hand on the younger echidna's shoulder and walked him to another part of the line of echidnas surrounding them. He and Knuckles stopped in between a gap formed by 2, echidnas. Knuckles was placed in between them in order to fill that gap.

The older one places his hands behind his back. He waited for Tikal, who returned just a few seconds later. She runs over to Pachacamac and stops next to him, somewhat out of breath.

"I'm ready, father!", she says between soft, labored breaths.

Knuckles examined her new outfit for a while; it was basically an off-white shirt with matching off-white pants. They looked very worn-down and the sleeves of both articles of clothing were torn significantly. It didn't look much like a gi than it did a stereotypical hobo outfit; her shirt didn't fold over her bust like a traditional gi would and the legs on her pants were oddly short and just the slightest bit asymmetrical, but most of all, the outfit lacked a _belt_. _What type of "gi" was this?_

He also noticed that she had taken off all of the jewelry she was previously wearing, making her look more masculine; without her tiara giving her locks that slight lift that they used to have, she actually bared a slight resemblance to _Knuckles_ with the illusion of longer locks. He said nothing for that entire time.

"Good, my girl.", the eldest of the 3 says. "I want you to be my assistant today. Follow me.",

She nodded her head in acknowledgement and stepped closer to her father.

She and Pachacamac walked away and in front of the "class". They stood straight and eyed each echidna.

"At ease, soldiers!", he commanded. They all stood straight with their hands shaped into fists and their arms pointing slightly outward.

"Forward stance!", he says. They all got into said forward stance. Almost each echidna had their left leg in front of their right, plus their left arm was used as their defensive arm while their right was placed over their stomach. They faced forward the entire time.

Knuckles didn't do this stance immediately because he had no idea how to do it. He examined the rest of the echidnas for a while before attempting to correctly copy their stance. Because this was his first ever lesson on using more than his fists, his stance unsurprisingly looked all types of wrong.

The leaders of the "class" walked in between the gap formed by each group of echidnas, with Pachacamac examining one line and Tikal examining another, the one that Knuckles was in, coincidentally. They occasionally stopped to adjust some of the echidnas' stances in case they looked somewhat wonky or they were doing something wrong.

Once Tikal made it to Knuckles, she stopped in front of him and examined his stance. To her, Knuckles's stance seemed to look the worst out of the others.

She tried to hide a giggle. "Here, let me help you, Knuckles.", she says. She corrected his stance by raising his defensive arm a bit, as well as gripping his waist and pushing him down slightly, causing him to bend his knees a bit more. He hissed very softly from the sudden force, but quickly regain his composure afterwards.

She repositioned his right arm to his stomach and, to finish off, she signaled Knuckles to switch legs, in which he did so. She stepped back a bit and examined his stance once more. She smirked and nodded.

"Looks good to me.", she says. "Good job, soldier!", she taps his shoulder. When Tikal walked to the echidna next to him, he looked at her and shook his head, followed by a chuckle.

 _Wow, half of the battle is just getting the stances right…_ , he thought to himself.

Once they made it back to the front, they turned back to them and Pachacamac yelled out another command: "We will practice kicking right now. My assistant and I will demonstrate", he says.

They both get in the same stance, with Tikal throwing a kick first, and Pachacamac blocking the attack. They then reversed roles and did the same, with Pachacamac kicking this time and Tikal blocking the attack.

Knuckles scoffed. _Looks easy enough…_ , he thought to himself.

"Begin!", the eldest one yelled.

The echidnas on the left each threw a swift kick, while the ones on the other side used their defensive arms to block the attacks.

Knuckles knew what to do, but there was still one _major_ problem: he had _no idea_ how to kick. _Well, at least this was just practice…_

His opponent was an echidna slightly taller than himself and a bit scrawny. He stood still for a few seconds before talking.

"Ready?", he asked.

Knuckles smirked. "Always!", he grunted.

The taller one threw a swift kick, but Knuckles couldn't react fast enough to block it and that earned him a blow to his face. It didn't hurt that much, but he sure wasn't expecting it.

"Hey!", he says, rubbing his face. When the echidna kicked again, he tried to block it this time, but due to how slow he threw it up, he still wound up getting hit, but by his own block. This pattern continued for some time until the leader of the "class" gave another command.

"At ease!", the leader said, and they all stopped. Knuckles was a bit frustrated; he didn't realize how much harder it was just using a limb other than his fists.

"We will now reverse roles. Begin!", Pachacamac yells.

Knuckles hopped a few times to loosen his muscles. He then got into the stance again, but this time, it looked rushed and _way_ wonkier than before, which meant _trouble_. He threw a slow kick, only for the taller echidna to swiftly block it. Somehow, the velocity of his block caused Knuckles's lower body to rotate in a very ugly position, thus causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. Though the sudden movement didn't hurt too much, it caused the nerves in his spine to "jerk" a bit, causing a trademark "tingling" sensation in his spine that would eventually turn into a dull ache.

When Pachacamac saw Knuckles on the ground, he yelled out "At ease!"

Whilst getting from the ground, Knuckles overheard some of his fellow classmates snickering at him. He tried to brush off the embarrassment with a brash comment:

"Hey, this is just _practice_. Wait till the _real_ fights start happenin', then imma be the _best_ fighta out chere!", he says, using a stereotypical "ghetto" accent to sound cool.

Everyone, even Pachacamac and Tikal, let out a somewhat quiet chuckle from the way Knuckles was talking.

"That arrogant tongue of yours better not be stronger than your kicks, boy!", he jokingly said, causing the rest of the echidnas around him to almost burst in laughter.

Knuckles simply scoffed at Pachacamac's comment. The laughter eventually died down and the elder echidna quickly regained his composure. "Begin!", he yelled.

They didn't have to reverse roles this time since Knuckles falling was the only reason why Pachacamac called "at ease"; to switch roles, they had to reach a specific time limit. This was about 30 seconds.

For those next 30 seconds, pretty much the same things happened; Knuckles threw slow kicks while the echidna facing him blocked almost every single one of them; he earned a few painful blows to his face every now and again, but not enough to be considered "good".

"At ease!", the eldest one yells. "Lessons are over for today! You all may leave, now!", he says. Most of them had already left, but one of them stopped by Knuckles, the same one he was training with.

"Hey, don't be too frustrated. You did okay for your first time. I promise you you'll get _so much better_ after some practice. You better just be glad you're alive. I wish you luck in this war…", he says before leaving. Knuckles simply looked at him and mumbled.

Tikal ran over to Knuckles and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I saw what happened to you. Are you okay?", she asks.

Knuckles huffed. "I'm good.", he says, rubbing his back a bit. "But my back still kinda hurts…"

Tikal smirked and approached Knuckles's "ear". "Maybe you can come with me somewhere so that I can help you with that ache of yours…", she whispers to him. Knuckles chuckled and snorted from her words.

Knuckles rolled his neck a few times. "I guess I'll have to practice my kicks some more…", he says.

"Indeed!", Tikal responds, putting a rather suspect amount of emphasis in the word. Knuckles immediately noticed this.

"Hey, at least I tried!", he responds.

Their conversation was cut short when a rather familiar face popped up next to them.

"Shade?", Knuckles asks.

She nods. "You have some visitors waiting for you…", she says.

Knuckles's eyes widened. "Some _visitors_? Where are they? _Who_ are they?" he asked.

"They looked _nothing_ like any of our clan members, but they seem to know who you are. I will take them to you.", she says.

Knuckles shrugs. "Alright.", he says.

Tikal walks away some. "I apologize, but I must change then stay and guard the Master Emerald. I will see you later, Knuckles!", she says, bowing to him.

"See you later, then.", he says, bowing awkwardly to her before leaving with Shade. What Knuckles didn't know was that his _visitors_ were going to be 3 of his closest friends, who managed to make their way to the past somehow just to find him and ask for a _huge_ favor, but he doesn't know that _someone else_ was with them, as well. Someone who is ruthless and is the main one responsible for this war, but Knuckles had yet to know this.

* * *

Meanwhile with Shadow, he was still wading in this lake he called "Close to Maria". He decided to call it that because the rather warm freshwater reminded him of the warm embrace that would come from a once-living Maria. Although it wasn't quite her, it came very close, hence its name. He began to think about his rather short life with Maria once again; besides the ways they would embrace each other (sometimes for long periods of time), he recalled several times where he would occasionally sneak into Maria's room whenever she was asleep.

Then Shadow had yet another flashback.

* * *

_Shadow was standing just outside of Maria's room. She seemed to be sleeping like a baby, but on her back. Oh, how that looked uncomfortable! She was also snoring very quietly, possibly due to the sleeping problems she developed from the long-term effects of her illness._

_Luckily, there was barely enough room in that bed for one more, so just for the sake of keeping Maria company during her sleep, Shadow would sneak off and cuddle in between the rather thick sheets with her. He tried to make her feel more warm by placing an arm over her bust and pulling himself closer to her, followed by absentmindedly rubbing his soft, furry face over her frail skin. Not a single word was uttered that entire time._

_That did it. The sleeping Maria knew who this was cuddling with her. She would pull Shadow close to her and hug him, as well, occasionally scratching very lightly at his quills. Eventually, she stopped her snoring and was breathing smoothly. Although these problems could've been fixed with the humidifier sitting next to her bed, it seemed that Shadow's warmth would have the same effect on Maria. Well, at least there was a reason why she never used it..._

_Although it did feel nice just sharing each other's warmth, even since Maria needed it more than anything in her rather short life, that didn't mean that they were intimate or anything. Far from that, actually. He just felt like Maria needed more company than she pleased, and he was possibly the only one who could provide that for her. The many people Shadow knew had yet to know about these rather strange encounters, despite them knowing him as one of the most ruthless beings in the planet who, possibly, had no belief in "warmth"._

* * *

He smiled again as his flashback ended. He was just about ready to exit the lake but a nagging thought in his head kept telling him to stay in for a bit longer. However, the familiar noise of a loud and gruff voice would cause that thought to vanish. It was calling out his name multiple times.

 _Oh, great. Just what I needed…_ , Shadow thought to himself.

"Shadow! Shadow!", it yelled out from a distance, gradually becoming louder as it approached the black hedgehog. He quickly exited from the lake and hurriedly dried himself off by shaking some excess water from his soaked fur. He smirked at that familiar face that stopped before him

"Well, well. Look who decided to show up uninvited...", Shadow says, a bit disappointed that whoever was in front of him ruined his alone time.

"Shadow, I've made some changes to our plan. They're not much, but at least this will most likely spare your life.", he says, pulling out a sheet of paper that was folded a ridiculous amount of times. He placed it in Shadow's open hand and he unfolded it. He examined the notes, although he struggled to read them, for not only were they poorly written, but they were scattered all over the paper.

"Uh, Doctor? Maybe try improving on your penmanship…", he growled slightly.

"My apologies, Shadow, but I was in a rush and I desperately needed you to read through this plan. I promise you this will work!", the Doctor says.

"But I can barely read it. How about you just summarize it?", Shadow asks.

Eggman nods and stands next to Shadow. He recited the plan as he pointed towards the different notes that he had written. Shadow nodded a few times as he began to better understand Eggman's plan. So far, his plan looked straightforward, except with the new things that they had with them now, some drastic changes would have to be made.

Once Eggman finished, Shadow nodded. "So, basically, we're going to reverse roles?", he asks.

"Pretty much, but we'll have to be a little more careful, since the ARK's security has been elevated significantly ever since our previous raid, and just in case we get ourselves into trouble, you should go find the rest of the shards, that way you can become _much_ stronger.", Eggman says.

Shadow shook his head and sighed. "Well, so long as I don't die this time…", he says.

"Trust me, you won't. I have it all planned out, so don't worry! Now, come on! If we want to get our revenge together, then you have to find tell rest of the shards ASAP!", the Doctor says with an odd amount of excitement in his voice.

Shadow looked back at the-correction, _his_ lake called "Close to Maria" and gave it a somewhat sad look; he wished that he didn't have to leave it so soon. After a few moments, he approached the lake, not caring that Eggman was right in front of him.

"One second..." he says, squatting over the lake. He cupped his hands and gathered some of its water, splashing it on his face only once. He stood up once again and approached Eggman, who was more confused than ever on what just happened.

Before Eggman could even say anything, Shadow immediately responded with "Just had to clear my mind…"

Eggman shook his head and chuckled. "I understand, Shadow. With all of the stuff we both are going through right now, I think we both need our minds cleared…", he says, heading for the lake to repeat the same actions as Shadow. However, before he could do so, Shadow quickly grabbed his wrist and immediately took out a Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Control!", he yells. They both disappeared from the area and headed elsewhere. For now, Shadow would continue to track down the shards of the Master Emerald and to retrieve them while Eggman would continue to make changes to their plan. One day, they would get their revenge and steal everything back... _successfully_ …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter coming soon. ^_^


	16. The Brawl of Knuckles and Imperator Ix (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles is off to see some visitors, but along the way he runs into some "heavy interference".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 2 parts of this chapter; the next chapter will be the second part. Please Enjoy! ^_^

Right now, Knuckles and Shade were on their way to wherever Knuckles's "visitors" were. His facial expression remained neutral as he began to wonder who was here to see him; Shade already said previously that these people looked _nothing_ like members of any of the 2 clans, so _maybe_ they could be some people from a _different_ , non-echidna clan? I mean, who else could it be? We already "know", but Knuckles had yet to find out.

Since Knuckles's back still had somewhat of a dull ache, he reluctantly agreed to not use his gliding technique since that would probably put more strain on his back, according to Shade. Instead, he had to sit on Shade's back while she glided him there. He sat on her left side with both arms and legs crossed. Surprisingly, she wasn't affected by this.

Knuckles began to grow impatient. "Where on Angel Island are we going?", he asked, turning his head towards her.

"We're headed for Albion.", she said blandly.

" _Albion_? What's _that_?", he asks, adjusting his position so that his legs were hanging over either side of Shade and he was facing her destination.

"It's our homeworld. It used to be called Nocturnus but it was changed after the previous War of the clans so that you guys wouldn't find us too easily.", she explains.

"Maybe you should lay down? It'll put less strain on your back.", she suggested.

"Really? Won't your back hurt, too?", he asked.

"Don't worry about me, my back is fine.", she says.

Knuckles shrugged and got in the most comfortable position he could find. Since Shade was fairly shorter than him, he couldn't completely spread himself out. He tried to get in a fetal position, but doing so made him somewhat off-balance, so he decided to remain in the position he was in previously and simply lie his upper body over Shade's back, crossing his arms on her head and lying his head over Shade's rather soft hair, using it as a pillow. The soft breeze beneath his locks and the natural warmth of his body temperature combined perfectly, and before he knew it, Knuckles fell soundly asleep.

After a rather long ride, they stopped by what looked to be a place full of hills. It was quite a bland land; most of it was filled with dark blue grass and not many trees. Shade grabbed a hold of Knuckles's legs from underneath and bent over slightly as she landed so that he wouldn't fall. After a few seconds, she shook him awake. Luckily, he wasn't in that much of a deep sleep, so he was able to wake up immediately. He moaned lowly as he slowly got off of Shade's back and he examined his surroundings. He was a bit drowsy, though, since he had just woken up.

"So…", he started before stretching his arms out and yawning loudly. "...where are my visitors?", he asked.

"Go find them.", Shade responded blandly.

Knuckles looked back at her and crossed his arms. "So...you're not gonna _help_ me find them…?", he asked.

Shade shook her head.

"Why?", he asked.

"Because I have other things to do. Clan orders, you know?", she responded with an oddly nervous tone.

Knuckles stared at her for a moment before shrugging in defeat. "I guess. I'll catch you later…", he says, walking off.

But before Knuckles could disappear completely, Shade called out for him. He looked behind him.

"I like your tattoos!", Shade shouted from a distance.

Knuckles shrugged. "Thanks! I guess…!?", he shouted as his voice trailed off with confusion. He continued to walk away.

Shade simply stared. She sighed quietly as she turned around to leave. She looked behind her to see if he was gone. Luckily, he was. _I can't let my master see me with a member from my rival clan. That's why I can't help, Knuckles...hmph, but how ironic of me to say that when that's what I'll be doing, anyway..._ , she thought to herself. _No wonder her voice sounded uneasy.._

Meanwhile, she turned back around and glided away into the distance.

* * *

Knuckles paused for a moment after walking a fair distance. He arched his back a bit before bending over to touch his toes, supposedly to stretch out his back to ease the pain. Ever since his fall during that lesson, the pain in his back was just getting the slightest bit worse, supposedly because he was laying down when he was supposed to be moving around. He tried to ignore it since Tikal promised to give him a massage later on.

He continued to walk around the area, clueless of where he was heading. The place looked _way_ too bland, which was ironic since the Nocturnus Clan had about 20 more members than the Knuckles Clan, but maybe it was simply because the latter was more active (and noticeably more desperate) than the former.

Getting bored, Knuckles was about ready to give up and return to Angel Island until, after turning around, he heard slow, yet ragged breathing. Growing suspicious, he looked around to find whoever was breathing like this. He quickly assumed a fighting stance when he heard a low chuckle echo through the area.

"Wha-!? Who's there?", he asks. No answer. Then, another chuckle, this time slightly louder and more maniacal.

He looked around once more, still in his fighting stance. He growled. "Hey, I know you're there, so just come out and fight me!", he yells.

Knuckles managed to get a clue of who was present when the voice began to speak.

"Well, well. If it isn't the newest member of the Knuckles Clan, trespassing in sacred property like it's _nothing_. You should be lucky that you're _technically_ still one of us...", it said.

Knuckles developed a faint smirk. "Hah! We meet again, Imperator Ix! This time, my clan and I _will_ 86 you!", he gloated.

The voice, now known as Imperator Ix, descended from wherever he was above the ground and came face-to-face with Knuckles. He chuckled. He examined the white markings on Knuckles for several seconds.

"Hmm..you sport body paint…", he mumbled while teasingly tracing some of the designs on his left arm with his scepter. "That makes you officially part of your glorious clan…", he then gave Knuckles a sharp poke to the arm with the golden tool. Knuckles winced slightly, trying to hide the pain in his face.

"..., that _I will destroy_!", he finished.

Knuckles growled and grabbed a hold of the scepter, pushing it aside. "Well, you got the body paint part right…", he says with an evil smirk. "But if you plan on _actually_ destroying us instead of staying in your chill spot all the time while we're actually trying our hardest to win this war, then I'll give you _full credit_ for your words.", he explains.

The dark being released Knuckles's grip from his scepter and assumed a fighting stance with his scepter now standing upright. "Oh, have we a _smart ass_ , now!?", he scoffed.

Knuckles cracked his neck and his knuckles and chuckled. "Maybe...or you're just afraid to admit that we're the stronger ones! I even learned some _new_ moves!", he says, doing a few rather ugly kicks.

Imperator Ix chuckled. "Oh, really?", he says. "Well, I think I'd like to see that. Come forth, boy, and demonstrate your abilities.", he says, standing upright.

"With pleasure…", he says, approaching him. He raised a leg and prepared to kick him. He managed to hit him, but not hard enough.

The darker one chuckled and grabbed a hold of the younger echidna's leg. Knuckles wasn't entirely sure what he was doing until he quickly brought his leg down, turning Knuckles onto his stomach and bringing him down somewhat hard to the ground.

The younger echidna grunted from the impact, but quickly stood up and regained his posture.

"Looks like those kicks need a bit more practice, boy.", he said.

Knuckles was now panting of exhaustion. "Yeah, you got that right…", he said in between labored breaths. "...but I'll get better. You'll...see…", then he arched his back, stretching out to ease the dull ache.

Knuckles let out a sort of high-pitched sigh of relief. "Whew! Alright, I'm _really_ tired for some reason. Let me go find my visitors, okay?", he says, walking away very slowly.

Imperator Ix mumbled. "Hmm.. _visitors_? I know not of any visitors, however I _did_ manage to capture a few intruders...disgusting things that looked _nothing_ like the clan members of you and I.", he asks.

Knuckles quickly turned around and faced him. "Hmm? _Intruders_?", he asked. Then he remembered what Shade had said earlier, about how his visitors looked _nothing_ like members of the 2 clans of this time period.

Knuckles pointed accusingly at Imperator Ix. "I think _you_ know where they are!", he says.

"Who, _me_? I didn't capture your so-called 'visitors'. I simply captured some intruders.", Imperator Ix replied defensively.

"Oh, yeah? Well, what did they look like, then?", he asked.

"Oh, were they _ugly_! One of them was spiky and blue, another one was pink and wore attire that I've _never_ seen before, and the last one-", he shuddered before he could finish. "-the _last_ one...had 2 tails. _2 tails_!", he explained. "I was extremely disgusted when I first saw them!"

Knuckles thought for a moment. _Spiky and blue, pink and wearing unfamiliar clothes, and 2 tails..._ his first thought after that were Sonic, Amy, and Tails. _His friends_! His friends were his supposed "visitors", captured by the man standing before him and mistaken for "intruders". They managed to make it to this time period, only to get captured by this evil, dark being in front of him.

"Hey! Those were my _friends_! You captured my friends and called them _ugly_!", he yelled, flaring up. "Tell me where they are. _Now!_ "

The darker one simply chuckled. "Please, would you really be able to get away with being caught with those _pests_ when you return to your fellow clan?", he asked, chuckling.

"They will be considered intruders wherever you go because both you and I live in a homeworld where only echidnas are allowed, and even if they were one of us, they would still have to prove their worth if they wanted to be respected by their fellow master.", he explains.

"Well, I'll just tell my master that they're my friends and _not intruders_.", Knuckles replied. _Hopefully he'll understand…_

"With you or not, your _ugly rodents_ would've still been invading private property and thus would've be imprisoned…", Imperator Ix chuckled.

Knuckles growled. "Stop making fun of them! Also, you didn't answer my question. _Where. Are. They?_ ", he asked once more. "I wanna know _exactly_ where they are!"

The darker one simply chuckled. "I've already told you, my dear boy. They've been imprisoned.", he says. Apparently, he didn't quite understand what Knuckles meant by _exactly_.

"They've invaded our precious territory, and intrusion of sacred territory is considered a felony in our homeworld, thus they will be sentenced to... _execution_ …", he says, ending his explanation with a very maniacal tone.

Knuckles gasped as he tried to hold in a few sudden tears. This maniacal monster was about to execute some of his _closest_ friends! He couldn't imagine how his life would be without them. They were probably some of the _few_ people that he was close to (besides the people he's met and grown close to in _this_ time period). Not only were his friends' lives in jeopardy, but he still couldn't find a way back to the present... _and_ his back was hurting. But it's pretty certain that he's had worse days…

He then got very angry, possibly the angriest that he's gotten in awhile. "I'LL KILL YOU!", he yelled before charging at the darker one with more speed than he thought he even had. He angrily threw a series of powerful punches, but Imperator Ix blocked all of them with his rather durable scepter and performed a simple kick that would push Knuckles away a few inches. He saw the anguish in Knuckles's face and, as a result, tried to half-heartedly console him.

"You shouldn't be _this_ aggravated, my dear boy. Once the execution is successful, your 'friends' will be in a better place, then they won't have to worry about the many bad memories that they've had in the past…", he says with a forced tone of empathy.

Now, Knuckles was so enraged that his cheeks began to grow red and he was exhaling heavy, labored, and quivered breaths. His entire body shook and the tears welling up in his eyes were begging to see the light of day.

"I swear, once all of this is over, you _will_ be sent to the depths of Hell, you hear me!? We _will_ win this war and I promise that you and your clan _will_ never see the light of day again!", he threatened.

"Oh, have we gotten rid of the smart ass _now_? Well then, now we've a determined boy, or shall we say, _desperate_? Come, boy! If you're able to beat me in this 1 on 1 battle, then _maybe_ your friends will be spared. But if _I_ win, then the execution will continue as planned…", he explains, assuming a fighting stance. "Do you agree?", he asks.

Knuckles gave him a shaky smirk as he got into as fighting stance as well, still quivering. "I don't got these markings for nothin'", he says, tracing the 2 stripes on his left arm. And the brawl between Knuckles and Imperator Ix would now begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sort of forgot what Albion looked like, so sorry for any continuity mistakes. ;A;
> 
> Part 2 of Knuckles and Imperator Ix's fight will come real soon, so please stay tuned, and Happy Mother's Day! ^_^


	17. The Brawl of Knuckles and Imperator Ix (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles loses his fight with Imperator Ix, however help is quickly on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's part 2 of the previous chapter. I hope it's not too bad because I had a lot of trouble writing it. Please enjoy! ^_^

_17 - The Brawl of Knuckles and Imperator Ix (part 2)_

Knuckles was first to attack the dark being by running towards him and preparing a powerful punch, only for the darker one to block it with his scepter. Since Knuckles apparently couldn't kick without getting tired, he had to rely on his punching, however at the same time he wished that he didn't get so tired and cramped trying to practice these kicks because he'd hoped that it would be a _huge_ benefit for himself and the rest of the clan, since he would've had more to work with, especially at _this current time_.

Now was Imperator Ix's turn to attack. He brought his scepter close to him and turned it to its side, pointing the C-shaped part of it towards Knuckles and allowing it to charge up a massive beam of cosmic energy. Knuckles immediately noticed it and, right when the blast let loose, he quickly dove to the side. This pattern would continue for several seconds until Knuckles decided to take a quick breather. Ix noticed how much Knuckles was sweating and decided to take advantage of that by taunting him.

"Tired already? But we've just started.", he asks.

Knuckles wiped some sweat off of his head with his mittened hand and scoffed. "I'm _never_ tired enough for _you_!", he boasted before beckoning a finger towards him. "Come on…", he says.

Ix nodded and prepared to attack once more. This time, he decided to charge at him and simply attack Knuckles with his scepter via blunt force. Knuckles interfered by throwing several punches. They managed to land a few blows on each other, but not enough to knock one of them out. After this, they both stopped striking each other and instead began pushing against one another, fighting for dominance. To break up the wrestling, Knuckles thought quickly and bent down to bite the darker one's arm, thus breaking the 2 up. He grunted as he clutched his arm. He saw 2 bite marks, but nothing more.

"That was a cheap shot, boy! But now, I'll return the favor!", he says, letting go of his arm to grab a firm grip of his scepter once more. He roared as he began to charge at Knuckles once again, with Knuckles doing the same thing. Both were trying to land the first blow, and Ix ultimately won this short "race", using the C-shaped part of his scepter to hit Knuckles on his stomach and push him against a nearby tree. Knuckles grunted from the impact but immediately regained his posture when he smirked and grabbed a hold of the darker one's scepter and attempted to push it off of him, however that scepter wasn't going anywhere, as Ix had a firm grip of it against his stomach that probably wouldn't loosen up anytime soon.

But then Knuckles height quickly once again and used his leg to perform an ugly, yet strong kick to the darker one's stomach, knocking him several inches away from him and thus loosening his grip on his stomach. Ix hummed.

"Not quite what you previously showed me, but not bad…", he said, referring to when Knuckles previously tried to practice his kicks against him. He dusted himself off and pointed his scepter to Knuckles once again. Knuckles grinned and loosened the muscles in his arms. "Come on! I'm ready when you are!", he says, assuming a fighting stance once more. "How about you use your magic on me again, since you wanna defeat me so badly?", he asks.

"Hmph!", he huffed. "You have a death wish, then. In that case, I shall proceed!", he shouts, firing several powerful energy spheres at him, containing more cosmic energy than his trademark green blasts, and also contained about 5 percent of Chaos's powers, which made it one of his more powerful attacks. Unfortunately for him, though, Knuckles blocked all of them with rapid dives and dashes here and there. _Fortunately_ for him, however, Ix managed to shoot at him until he got Knuckles cornered between a set of small building, possibly factories that produce the weapons belonging to the Nocturnus Clan.

Knuckles thought quickly and ducked when Ix was about to strike him with his scepter. Knuckles tried to perform an uppercut under the dark being, only for him to block it with the shaft of the scepter. The 2 pushed against each other for a few seconds before he grabbed a hold of his scepter once more, kicking him away once more and thus removing him of his scepter. Now _Knuckles_ was in control.

"Ha! Now you're _weak_!", Knuckles says.

Ix simply chuckled. "Well, that's too bad. I guess without my scepter, we're _tied_...unless _you_ can use it against me…", he says.

Knuckles smirked. "Alright, I'll try.", he gloated. He held the C-shaped part of the scepter towards IX and waited a while for something to happen, but _nothing_. He brought it back to a vertical position and shook it confusingly a few times before pointing it back towards IX, but still, _nothing_ happened.

"Hmph, you don't even _know_ how to use it. You poor, rebellious young man…" IX teased with a chuckle before flying upwards with speeds so great that Knuckles didn't even notice that the dark being was behind him and ready to knock the wind out of him.

And _knock the wind out of him_ , he did, although Knuckles didn't immediately realize it until he found himself flat on his stomach, taking short and heavy breaths as he struggled to catch his breath. He slowly picked up his head, but not until IX firmly placed a foot over his head, bring it back down and against the ground beneath him. He exhaled a short grunt from the impact.

IX reached down and retrieved his scepter once more. He brought it closer to him and examined it for a while before speaking once again.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor boy...and here, I thought you were actually going to beat me. Oh, well…", he paused before carelessly blasting an injured Knuckles with a Power Blast, knocking him a few feet into a nearby tree. The impact almost immediately knocked him unconscious. At least now he knew how it felt being shot by the Power Blast. Apparently, at its strongest, the most it could do is knock someone out cold.

Ix twirled his scepter like a baton for a moment before continuing his sentence. "...I'm sorry to say, but the execution will have to go as planned, and now, I bid you adieu…"

It would be awhile before Knuckles would regain consciousness, but while he was still out cold…

* * *

Tikal stood before the Master Emerald once more. There were many thought racing within her mind. She groaned with frustration as they spiraled out of control. One minute, it was "I wish nature could just kill my dad so that I don't have to do it myself", then the next minute it was "There's something about Knuckles that's troubling me…"

Her thought trailed off, however, when she heard a rather familiar voice call out for her.

"Tikal!", she yelled out as she glided towards Tikal.

"Oh, Shade! You've returned!", Tikal yelled back. Shade landed next to Tikal and they both exchanged bows, or curtseys, in Tikal's case.

"I assume you're ready for me to teach you our Prayer?", Tikal asked.

Shade nods.

Tikal bows with acknowledgement. "Right, then we shall proceed, but quickly, as my father should be returning soon." Tikal then faces the Master Emerald and kneels before it, using a sort of hand signal telling Shade to do the same. The elder one nods and does so.

"Now, this prayer has troubled many guardians for quite a while, but you _must_ know it in order to become a _Master Guardian_. We have so _little_ time, so please pay attention.", Tikal explains.

Shade nods. "Yes, ma'am…", she says.

Tikal cleared her throat before saying the following: "The Servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is Power enriched by the Heart. The Controller is the one who Unifies the Chaos.". She then faced Shade, hoping she at least heard most of the prayer, and thus could repeat it.

Shade closed her eyes, trying to register the words said to her. "The Servers are the 7 Chaos...Chaos is...er…"

"Power enriched by the Heart…", Tikal repeats.

"Chaos is Power enriched by the Heart. The Controller is the One that…"

" _Unifies_ …"

"Unifies the Chaos.", Shade finished.

Tikal shrugged. "Not bad, but you must remember it by heart in order to become a Master Guardian. Now, repeat it from the top.", she says.

Shade nods and proceeds. "The Servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is...Power...power... _um_ …"

Tikal suddenly stood up as a sudden feeling overcame her. "Halt, Shade!", she said firmly. Shade looked up at Tikal and could see a troubled look on her face. She stood up and examined the younger echidna.

"Tikal! Is something wrong!?", she asked.

"Yes. _Very_ wrong!", she says before gasping. "I feel a strange sense within me. I think someone is injured.", she gasped once more. " _Knuckles_! He's hurt! I must go save him!", but before Tikal could go anywhere, a hand on her shoulder would stop her from doing so.

"Wait, lady! How do you know he's hurt? Do you even know if he's _gone_?", she asks.

Tikal groaned with frustration. "You wouldn't understand! As a Natural-Born Guardian, I can sense if another Guardian is in danger, and I can now sense that he's in danger, so I _must_ save him!

"But _I_ can't sense him…", Shade mumbled.

" _Exactly_!", Tikal says. "Trust me, I _know_ he's in danger, so please let me help him...:", she says.

They stared into each other's concerned eyes for a moment before Shade could break the silence.

"Fine, but I'll take you there since even _you_ can't do _everything_ …", she says, bending over. "Climb on." Tikal complied and sat on Shade's back. They finally took off into the distance.

The 2 had a short conversation during the ride. "You seem to know where you're going, despite not being able to sense Knuckles…", Tikal says.

Shade sighs. "Don't worry about that. Right now, we have to save him, that is, _if_ he's even in danger, like you say…", she says.

Tikal simply shrugged and left Shade to lead the way. They eventually made it back to the Nocturnus Clan's homeworld. Tikal gasped, both from awe and from distress.

"This is _Albion_ , the Nocturnus Clan's sacred homeworld!", she remarked, observing the rather bland atmosphere. "And my senses are growing stronger! He _must_ be here, but _why_!?", she asked, mostly to herself.

Shade faced her. She would've told Tikal _everything_ she knew, however she didn't want her to get angry, especially since what Knuckles was doing could've been the cause of him being in so-called "danger", so she simply shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but he have to find him. Follow me.", she says. Tikal simply shrugged.

They were eventually led to a nearby tree. Tikal gasped once more.

"Knuckles!", she says, heading towards the tree. She encircled it and eventually found Knuckles _unconscious_. Tikal grabbed Knuckles and rested his head on her lap. He looked to be in more of a peaceful slumber than in an unresponsive state.

"He's senseless. He's motionless. Oh, who could've caused this…?", she whispered, caressing the matted fur on his head. Shade approached and when she saw Knuckles, she gasped. She then bent over to his level and pressed an "ear" against his chest. He seemed to be breathing fine, and his heart was beating normally.

"He's fine, Tikal…", she says with a comforting voice. "I assume he was attacked by someone."

"But _who_?" Tikal asked, but before anyone could respond, Tikal felt some movement on her lap. They both looked down to see a once unconscious Knuckles squirming a bit, groaning as he slowly opened his eyes. It took him a while to adjust to his surroundings, but when he did, he was surprised to see both Tikal and Shade near him.

"Wha-what...happened…?", he asked, his speech a bit slurred.

Tikal simply smiled and hugged Knuckles close to her. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake. I sensed your danger from afar and I knew you needed us!", she explained.

Knuckles raised a brow. "Huh…?". He looked around for a bit and realized that he was still on the soil of the Nocturnus Clan's sacred homeworld. That's when he realized that Imperator Ix had gone missing. He sat up sharply and looked around more frantically.

"Where did he go!?", he practically shouted. This time, it was Tikal's turn to raise a brow.

"Where did _who_ go?", she asked.

"That prick Imperator Ix! Once I find him, he's gonna wish he _never_ attacked me …", he growled.

Tikal's face of confusion immediately turned into a scowl when he heard Knuckle's words. "You let Imperator Ix, the _strongest_ leader of the Nocturnus Clan, attack you!? _Why_!?", she asked.

Knuckles growled with frustration and stood up completely on his feet. "I didn't _let_ him attack me! He just got lucky! If he thinks that he can get away with hurting my friends, then he's got more than a few things waiting for him…"

"Wait, _friends_? What _friends_?", she asked, standing up.

"My friends from _my timeline_. Ix said that they ended up here, but he captured them and is planning to execute them. I'll explain the rest of the details later, but in the meantime, they're not from either of our clans…", he explains.

Tikal whimpered with anguish. "Oh, dear! More and more unwanted visitors are put in danger because they're invading sacred property! And if they're not part of any of our clans, then _everyone_ will want to kill them! They'll be in _hot pursuit_!", she groaned as she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, drat! Shade is on my side as well, and if my father sees us with more trespassers, who just so happens to be _your_ friends, as well as someone from our rival clan who just so happens to be one of _my_ closest friends, then he will kill _all of us_! Oh, what on Angel Island shall we do!?"

Right after Tikal's "crisis", Knuckles widened his eyes with shock. When Shade realized why, she face-palmed.

"Oh, dearest me…", she sighed quietly. _So, she blew it_...

"I'm not gonna say anything…for now...", Knuckles says. "Let's just go save my friends before I have to destroy things-"

"Wait!", Shade says. "We don't need you any more beat up than you are now. Go back to your homeworld before Tikal's dad come back and take care of those wounds. We don't need him to become suspicious…", Shade explains.

"Agreed. Let's go, Knuckles. I _did_ promise you something, and I shall keep it.", she says with an oddly smooth tone.

"Knuckles raised a brow. "Huh-?", his confusion was interrupted when Tikal suddenly jumped onto his back, causing him to grunt from the impact.

"Onward! Let's go! Hurry it up!", she yells, and with that, Knuckles begins gliding away from the bland homeworld and into the distance. Shade sighed and shook her head. _I just know that I'm going to regret this. After everything that happened between the 2 of us in the past, I'm pretty sure I'll be considered a trespasser, as well…_ , she thought to herself. As she advanced forward, she waited for the worst to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished. I had quite a bit of trouble with this chapter, plus I've been so busy for the past few months, so I didn't have a lot of free time to finish, but here it is. Next chapter should come way earlier. ;)


	18. Chaos New Ability and Shadow and Eggman's Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos gains a new power via a Chaos Emerald; Shadow and Eggman discover some interesting information about the substance that Shadow disposed of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Please enjoy! :D

Chaos had eventually made it to point B, which just so happens to be yet another lake. Before he exited the water, he admired the warmth it gave him. He had yet to know that this lake actually had a name...well, _sort of_. He also didn't immediately realize that if a certain _someone_ that he was pursuing caught him in that lake, he would be quite angry. Ah, well…

He sensed a faint, yet familiar, presence near the lake, as well.

 _Shadow must've been here just moments ago, but where could he have gone, now?_ , he thought to himself. Since Chaos was unable to speak, his words were replaced with a few grunts here and there, each containing a different tone depending on how he felt at that moment.

Right now, he had to find the rest of the shards of the Master Emerald, but first, he had to figure out what to do with this Chaos Emerald in his "hand". He exited from the water and observed it for a moment.

 _Shadow's using the Master Emerald shards to become stronger. Poor fool can't even shove a whole Chaos Emerald inside of himself, but maybe I could do it. It could be worth a shot…_ , he thought to himself.

He slowly brought the Chaos Emerald close to his arm. It slid within his body made of water in a rather uncomfortable manner, and in a matter of seconds, something happened. Chaos slumped over with disappointment from what had just occurred. All it did was make his arm bigger. _What a disappointment_...or not…

He decided to test out his new arm before he could actually say it was a disappointment. He did so by doing a simple attack with the arm. It stretched farther than previously, so far that he managed to cut a few trees down. He froze as the trees gradually fell from their stumps and onto the grassy ground below. He finally unfroze after some birds flew away into the distance. He stood straight once more and observed his arm, admiring its properties.

 _Huh. This could be of good use for me…_ , he thinks to himself. _I should go find more Chaos Emera-wait, you have other things to do, Chaos. Stop getting distracted, damn it._ And with that, he walked off into the distance. Deep down, Chaos was more desperate than we thought to reseal Shadow inside of the Master Emerald. He had a hint of panic in his facial expression, like Shadow _needed_ to be dead once more and sealed within the Master Emerald.

He didn't know, however, that Shadow didn't _have_ to be resealed; pretty much _anyone_ can be sealed within it, so long as it's someone's corpse. Apparently, a legend that's existed for a _long time says_ that if there isn't at least 1 corpse sealed within the Master Emerald, then Chaos would become extremely unstable and thus exit from the Master Emerald and frantically search for a dead body, however, it's unknown why he wanted _Shadow_ , in particular. Maybe there was something special about Shadow that made him want him more than anyone else. Either way, there was always _Sonic_ to chase after, since he, too, is dead, however Chaos didn't want Sonic sealed within it. We had yet to know why, though.

* * *

Meanwhile with Shadow and Eggman, Chaos Control has allowed them to teleport back to Eggman's headquarters. Shadow was sitting on a nearby rolling chair with his legs crossed. His eyes were closed and his head was weighing down. He looked to be in deep thought when he was actually in distress. Eggman didn't immediately notice Shadow's face of hidden anguish, however he decided to find out how he was feeling by talking to Shadow.

"Hey, Shadow. You okay? We can stay here for a while while I continue planning our infiltration of the G.U.N., but remember that we have to keep looking for those shards later on.", he explains.

"I know that, doctor. Now, please...just keep working on that plan of yours, far away. I would like to be alone for a while...", he responds, grunting as he held back a stubborn tear. He didn't have the time to cry (especially in front of Eggman), so he thought it was better that he was alone so that he didn't have to do so.

"Is this about Maria? If so, then I don't mind you talking to me about it, since we both know her equally well and are dealing with the same problems...", Eggman says.

"No, just go away…", Shadow responded blandly. "I don't need your empathy..."

Eggman sighed. "I understand, Shadow…", he says, walking off, but before he could completely disappear, he looked down to find a worn-down piece of paper lying on the ground. He bent over to pick it up and skimmed through it. A rather interesting piece of text on it caused Eggman to return and beg for Shadow's attention.

"Hey, Shadow! I think you need to see this!", he yelled.

Shadow's brows furrowed. "I said go away…", he said calmly, trying not to raise his voice, but Eggman wasn't going to let Shadow's mood stop him from telling him something important.

"No, Shadow! You _have_ to see this!", he says.

" _I said go away! Leave me alone! I don't need to see anything!_ ", he said with voice raised, startling Eggman a bit. Eggman developed an aggravated, yet concerned facial expression.

" _Listen, Shadow, I know exactly what you want, so god dammit, let me help you get it!_ ", he said, also with voice raised as he turned the chair around rather aggressively so that an aggravated Shadow was facing him. Before Shadow could react fast enough, Eggman grabbed his hand and forcefully opened it, slamming the note into his open palm.

" _Now, read the goddamn thing!_ ", he practically yelled.

Shadow was actually planning on doing so, however he was just too aggravated to do anything at this moment, and the longer Eggman stayed in his face, the angrier he got.

"You're lucky we've formed an alliance, but if another second passes by and I still see your face, then I'll instantly end it. Now, get out of my sight before I have to personally destroy you.", he growled with an uncomfortably low tone, tearing the paper to shreds and letting the confetti fall gracefully to the ground below.

Eggman flared up as he saw the confetti fall to the ground.

"God damn you, Shadow! That was some valuable information, and you just _destroyed_ it!", he yelled, uncomfortably close to Shadow's face. That did it. Shadow became so livid that he grabbed a firm hold of the doctor's mustache and brought him even closer to his own face.

"Yell at me again and I swear I'll tear that mustache off of your very face and shove it down your throat!", he warned, growling more than yelling. Eggman winced in pain from the pulling and tried to release the firm grip.

"Ouch! Okay, okay, I won't do it again! Just let go of my mustache, you pesky little hedgehog!" he groaned. Shadow's facial expression softened somewhat. He forcefully let go of the doctor's mustache. He couldn't help but smirk from Eggman's somewhat panicked face.

"Don't be scared of _me_ , doctor. You know I would _never_ hurt you too badly, especially since we're supposed to be working together. Now, get out of here before I actually _do_ hurt you, you _eggface_.", he says with a slight chuckle.

Eggman massaged the roots of his beard before growling at Shadow. "You're lucky you can make such harsh threats…", he mumbled before storming off into the distance. _Some way to handle your emotions…_ , he thought to himself before he disappeared completely.

Indeed, Shadow _did_ have an odd way of handling his emotions, especially if they were those of which considered a male "weak" or "powerless"; sometimes, when he was in extreme distress like he was just moments ago, he would show it in the form of _anger_ or _frustration_ , especially if someone mention such a deep topic, such as Maria. After Maria's death, there were _many_ instances where he was very depressed, to the point where he wanted to _cry_. However, he usually hid it in the form of a more aggressive emotion, as aforementioned. This was partially because vengeance had taken over his mind, but it was also because he never really liked to socialize with others unless it was for an important job or mission, thus he never liked expressing his personal thought and feelings to others.

Shadow's smirk faded into a more neutral facial expression. He weighed his head down once more and shook his head. He opened his eyes long enough to see a piece of the shredded paper laying in front of him, and, coincidentally, it showed some text. Shadow slowly leaned over to pick it up. He decided to read what was printed on there. It read:

_This is a prototype substance that will be used to cure victims of N.I.D.S. in the future._

Shadow raised a brow at the text. "A prototype substance that will cure _any_ N.I.D.S. victim…?", he mumbled to himself. "It seems like Eggman was telling me that someone was planning to cure Maria…" He then looked around for anymore shreds of paper that had text written on it. He eventually found one that read:

_This substance is to be used on N.I.D.S. victim._

Then another that read:

_Please handle substance with care._

After that, there were no more shreds of phrases to read. He realized that these words looked rather familiar. He began to register everything that he had just read, and when he did, he began to have a short flashback of the events that occurred 3 years ago, however some changes applied:

* * *

 

_Whilst still pinning the G.U.N. soldier in place, he read the note attached to the syringe. It had the same 3 phrases that the torn up note had, but he decided to read through the rest more carefully, but this time, he removed his thumb from the blocked text. Now, it read:_

_Substance contains poisonous ingredients that may be fatal if handled carelessly._

_Touching this substance can lead to death or serious injury._

_This substance is to be used on N.I.D.S. victim_

…

_**This is a prototype substance that will be used to cure any victim of N.I.D.S. in the future.** _

_Please do not consume substance._

_Please handle substance with care._

_Thank you._

_And the flashback ended…_

* * *

 

Shadow groaned and slapped a palm in his face. How impulsive he was, not reading through the note completely the first time, and when he had the opportunity to the second time, he mindlessly ripped it to shreds. _Poor Shadow_...He realized that he would have to tell Eggman that he managed to discover the importance of that note because according to it, the substance would've been used to cure Maria should it have been stable enough to test. He also noticed that every time the soldiers exited from Maria's room, the worsening of her symptoms were slowed down significantly. This led to one conclusion: they weren't trying to _kill_ Maria, they were trying to _save_ her!

Shadow chuckled slightly from his hasty actions. Well, he guessed that it was about time to tell Eggman about it, but first, he had to do something that he _never_ thought he'd have to do to _anyone else_ except Maria, and that was to... _apologize_ …

Shadow groaned from the thought of apologizing to Eggman, however because the 2 were working together, it was about time for the 2 to become more social with each other. He took the most important piece of information with him and headed elsewhere.

He walked to another room, where Eggman was sitting near a desk with his arms and legs crossed. He was facing away from Shadow and intentionally ignored the noises the sliding doors made when they were opened, but the noises were hard to ignore, so he replaced that with a pout.

The room looked messier than previously. Something must've happened when Shadow wasn't around. Shadow decided to gradually approach the doctor and waited until he was just inches away from him to speak.

"Hey, doctor...about that note-", but Eggman interrupted.

"What? Are you asking me what it said because you ripped it up?", he asked with a rather firm tone of voice. "If you wanted to know what it said, then how about you just tape it back together?"

 _He's still mad about it_ …, Shadow thought to himself. _But I won't let his mood stop me from telling him anything…_

"Actually, I managed to read some of it, including _this part_.", he says, whipping out a piece of the note. "Apparently, the G.U.N. was planning on curing Maria with that weird stuff in that syringe.", he says with a smirk.

This caused Eggman to turn around frantically. "Really? So, you know what was supposed to happen to Maria?", he asked, overjoyed. "That's brilliant! Also, since we found that out, I decided to change up the plan a bit…", he says, picking up a broken frame that contained the picture of himself, Maria, and Gerald. He moved both out of the way to pick up some sheets of folded paper.

He unfolded them and let Shadow take a look. They consisted mainly of a series of ingredients that would've been used in this so-called "prototype substance".

"I was thinking that maybe I could go undercover and steal back those ingredients as well as more documents, if we can find them, while you become stronger and infiltrate the place after we gather everything we need because...we're still trying to get our revenge...especially since the belongings that we were planning on bringing back to Earth were most likely destroyed.", he explains.

Shadow nodded with agreement. "I see...but what would we do with the ingredients?", he asked.

Eggman shrugged. "We'll examine them, and if they're poisonous, then we'll dispose of them!", he explains.

"And if they aren't…?", Shadow asked.

A brief pause took effect. "I don't really know, actually…", he says.

Shadow shook his head and chuckled. "You may be one hell of a genius, but you still are and will _always_ be an _egghead_ …", he says with a slightly humorous tone.

Eggman let out an awkward chuckle whilst twirling his thumbs. "Speaking of...are you still mad at me…?", he asked.

Shadow didn't immediately respond; instead, he faced his head away from Eggman and hummed. "Hmph. You _really_ think I can stay mad at you forever? We have a job to do, so why would I stay mad?"

Eggman clasped his hands together. "Right...I guess that makes sense…", he says.

Then Shadow groaned. "I can't believe this has to happen, but... _sorry_...for threatening you earlier...and you're right; it _was_ about Maria...", he says quietly.

Eggman smiled. "Hey, it's fine, Shadow. I know how you are when it comes to Maria, but once this job is completed, you'll be reminded of Maria in all of the _good_ way instead of the _bad_!", he explained.

Shadow nodded with agreement. He was ready to walk away before he stopped on a dime and faced Eggman once more.

"Doctor, I think we need to have a serious conversation.", he says.

Eggman raised a brow. "Oh, alright. That's new; you usually _never_ want to talk to people, let alone have a conversation.", he says.

Shadow slowly turned around to face Eggman and approached him. "Listen, we _may_ be allies...at the moment…, but keep in mind that as the Ultimate Lifeform and a rival of that Faker, there's still room for me to do whatever _I_ want. That means I don't have to listen to you all the time, understood?", he asks.

Eggman nods. "I understand, Shadow. Trust me, _everyone_ knows you're not a big fan of submission, and I totally understand how you feel about that pesky little hedgehog, Sonic. I bet you wish you were fighting him _right now_ , huh?", he asked.

Shadow chuckled. "You know me too well, doctor, but that doesn't mean that we'll become friends. Far from that, actually…", he says.

"Heh, I knew that…it's just business, right?", Eggman asks with a chuckle.

Shadow simply nodded. "Although…", a wide smile struggled to appear on his face.

"Although, _what_ , Shadow?", Eggman asked, curious of what Shadow was going to say.

Shadow's trail of thought vanished and he simply shook his head and chuckled. "Nothing, doc. That's all I wanted you to hear…", he says, turning around once more to leave.

Eggman shrugged. "Okay. I guess we'll keep having our alone time until further notice…", he says.

Before Shadow could leave, Shadow stopped once more and swiveled his head towards the doctor. "I'm going to remind you that once we finish this job, this alliance is _over_ , understand?", he explains.

Eggman nods. "That's fine by me…", he says.

Shadow smirked. "By the way, why is this place so messy?", he asked.

Eggman hesitated for a brief second. "Oh, nothing. Just...looking for some stuff...yeah...", he says. In reality, he was just trying to release the inner anger within him in order to calm himself down, but trashing the room might've not been the best thing to do...

Shadow nods and finally leaves Eggman to be alone. Eggman sighed and turned his chair around to face the desk in front of him. After finding all of the shards, the 2 would finally have their final plan to not only infiltrate the ARK, but if they were still there, they would retrieve both Maria's belongings as well as the ingredients used to create the substance that was meant to cure Maria of her N.I.D.S. If any evidence of Maria's belongings were destroyed, then they would have to attack the guards responsible for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, this chapter was easy to write! XD The next chapter will probably published between tomorrow and next week. Happy (early) Father's Day! :D


	19. Knuckles's Massage and Tikal's (attempted) Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles finally gets the massage that Tikal promised him, but things turn out more awkward than they wanted; Tikal tries to confess her feelings towards Knuckles, but she doesn't quite get everything out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here is some more Knuckles and Tikal "stuff" that y'all might like XD. This time, things get a little more awkward, but I'm not gonna go too far because, after all, this is a T-rated fic. Please "enjoy"...lol :P

_19 - Knuckles's massage and Tikal's (attempted) Confession_

Knuckles and Tikal had finally made it back to Angel Island, but they weren't staying here for too long. In fact, Knuckles was about to discover yet another one of Tikal's secret hiding places. This one might not be as spaced out at the Chao Garden, but once he made it there, Knuckles was in for a _major_ surprise.

Tikal got off of Knuckles's back and walked around him until she was facing him. She clasped her hands into Knuckles's and he blushed as they looked into each other's eyes. Unbeknownst to them, the strange feelings that they had towards each other meant something _huge_ , but we had yet to know what that was.

"Do you like grapes?", Tikal asked with a warm smile.

"Are you kidding?", Knuckles chuckled. "I _love_ grapes! They're actually my _favorite_ food…", he responded.

Tikal jumped with excitement. "Oh, good! Then, you'll _love_ this place! Come on!", she says, frantically pulling against Knuckles's arms to follow her. Knuckles grunted from the sudden jerk of his arms and stumbled a few times from the sudden change of speed that took effect.

"Whoa, slow down! Always going all Sonic on me…", he mumbled the last sentence under his breath.

After a while of race-walking, they finally made it to yet _another_ location on Angel Island. Tikal finally stopped on a dime to present the place to Knuckles. "Here it is…", she says.

Knuckles observed the place. His eyes widened and his mouth was agape. His facial expression had awe written all over it and he was beyond speechless that not even a breath could escape from him.

The place might've been another forest, but instead, it was a forest full of... _grape trees_. No wonder Tikal asked if he liked grapes, this version of Angel Island just so happened to have a place full of trees with ripe grapes growing out of them, and the glare from the afternoon sun made them look even more delectable. Knuckles was wondering if this was just a dream; he always loved grapes, but he _never_ knew Angel Island had such a location. He assumed that his version of Angel Island no longer had this garden.

"We call this the _Garden of Grapes_. It's quite lovely, isn't it?", she asked. When Knuckles didn't respond, Tikal playfully slapped Knuckles on his face.

"Hey, I asked you a question…", she giggled.

Knuckles finally snapped back to reality. "Huh? What's that, you say?", he asked mindlessly. Tikal simply snorted.

Tikal walked a few inches away from Knuckles and reached for a rather high tree branch. She struggled to reach it, even after jumping towards it a few times.

She yelped in surprise when she realized she was being lifted off of the ground. "You need some help?", a gruff voice asked.

Tikal looked down to see Knuckles holding Tikal up from behind. His arms were clasped tightly onto Tikal's waist so that she didn't fall. She covered her mouth and blushed. Knuckles noticed her facial expression and groaned.

"Come on, hurry it up. I don't want people staring at us…", he mumbled. Ironically, _no one else_ was present in the Garden of Grapes.

Tikal giggled and grabbed a hold of the high tree branch. "Thank you dearly, Knuckles. I appreciate your assistance.", she says, grabbing a fairly large cluster of grapes from the tree branch. Knuckles finally put her down and next to him. She picked a few grapes off of the cluster and ate them before offering some to Knuckles. Knuckles nervously accepted them, taking a handful from the cluster and slowly eating them. To Knuckles, these were so far the best grapes he's ever eaten in awhile. Most of the time, if he were to eat grapes, they would be from a supermarket somewhere in a city, such as Station Square, but he seemed to favor these grapes the most.

"Wow, these are amazing…", he muttered.

"Indeed, they have _just_ the right amount of sweetness to them…", Tikal responded as the 2 finished what was left on the cluster. "But that's not all what we're here for…", she says.

Tikal grabbed a hold of Knuckles's arm once more and led him to an area that was more crowded with trees and thus had more grapes on them.

"Can you lay on your stomach for me?", she asked somewhat nervously.

Knuckles raised a brow of confusion. "Why…?", he asked, growing nervous.

Tikal shrugged. "Well, I _did_ promise to give you a massage for that aching back of yours…", she explains.

Knuckles scratched the top of his head. "Oh, right. You _did_ say that…", he mumbled with a nervous chuckle. "Well, it won't look weird, will it?", he asked.

Tikal shook her head. "Unless you _make_ it look weird…", she added.

Knuckles quickly did as he was told and lay flat onto his stomach, with his arms in a sort of spread-eagle position. "Well, make this quick, cause I don't want anyone seeing us and getting any funny ideas…", he muttered.

Tikal nodded and slowly position herself above Knuckles. Since Knuckles's face was practically buried in the damp grass beneath him, he didn't notice. It was until Tikal sat on his back when he suddenly felt a shiver down his spine. He wasn't too bothered by this, though, since Tikal sat on his back all the time whenever they were headed somewhere.

Tikal began by slowly, yet firmly, caressing Knuckles's shoulders, occasionally squeezing them to release the tension within them. Knuckles sighed and squirmed as the stiffness in his shoulders began to ease away.

"I see you're feeling better so far…", Tikal remarked. Knuckles simply smiled from her comment.

Tikal smiled and move down lower onto Knuckles's back, doing the same caressing and squeezing actions, while occasionally doing firm circular movements on the sides just above his waist. A particular spot within Knuckles's back that Tikal massaged caused him to make a strange hissing noise. He grunted consistently, with the pitch comically getting higher depending on where there was more tension.

"I like the sounds you make, Knuckles. They sound funny…", Tikal giggled.

"Sorry, I can't help myself…", he mumbled, adjusting the position of his head so that it was facing to the left.

Tikal continued to caress those spots for a few minutes until she decided it was about time to move on. She brought her hands lower, until they were about level with the hem of her skirt. Knuckles hissed in pain when Tikal put a certain amount of pressure to the center of his spine.

"Looks like we've got a lot of tension there. Oh, well, nothing I can't take care of…", she says before giving off a sharp push with her thumbs. The force caused Knuckles to yelp in pain.

"Hey, watch it!", he scolded. "That hurt!"

"Don't worry, I'll be more gentle this time.", Tikal said as she continued her actions. When she did both that and made small circles with her thumbs, a rather strange and drawn-out groan involuntarily escaped from Knuckles's lips. Another one escaped when she stopped then immediately resumed.

" _Oh_ , man…!", Knuckles grunted sharply.

Tikal burst out in laughter. "Aw, that was _too_ cute, Knuckles!", she says.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it. I'm not here to put on a show…", Knuckles growled, growing more embarrassed by the second. "Once this is all over, we're gonna forget this ever happ- _ah_!", he suddenly cried out as Tikal massaged that spot once more. Now, she was just being mean.

" _Nngh_ , I hate you…!", he grunted.

"Do you _really_ , Knuckles…?", she sneered.

"Yes, I do! Now, hurry it up before I get mad…!", he grumbled, but the tone of voice he used sounded more goofy than serious, and the amount of irony in his remark made Tikal laugh even more.

"Oh, don't feel bad, Knuckles. I will be done shortly.", she says, and after a few more seconds, she stopped and left Knuckles to sit up to her level. He faced her and growled.

"It's about time…", he mumbled.

"I know that you're embarassed, but is your back healed yet?", she asks with slight concern.

Knuckles grumbled. "Yeah, but I'm getting rid of the rest of these scratches by myself because you've done _enough_ funny business as it is…", he muttered, crossing his arms and rubbing his hands over them, like someone would if they were cold, and before he knew it, the majority of his scars had disappeared. Afterwards, he kept his arms crossed and hunched his shoulders, pouting and facing away from Tikal. He tried to hide a blush that begged to take over his face.

"Why are you even here, anyway? Shouldn't you be with your dad or something…?", he mumbled. The tone in his voice still indicated a bit of embarrassment.

"Look, don't worry about that right now. You have 1 more thing to do, and I think you should do it right away so that we can make it back in time.", Tikal ordered.

"Hmph, and what's that?", he asked, fiddling with the white body paint on his arm.

After a rather long and awkward pause, Tikal finally responded with a firm "You must bathe."

Knuckles turned to face Tikal faster than he could release an internal scream in his head. _I know she's playing with me right now…_ , he thought to himself, but the serious facial expression that Tikal had said otherwise.

"A _bath_!? You want me to take a _bath_ now!?", he asked.

Tikal raised a brow. "Well, of course, Knuckles. How else will you get clean?", she asked.

Knuckles was about to ask if Tikal was being sarcastic, but knowing that they had no time to waste at this moment, he simply huffed in defeat. "Fine. Where's the bathtub at?", he asked.

Tikal leaned her head to the side. "If this so-called "bathtub" that you're referring to is what you call the _hot spring_ , then it's hidden deeper into the Garden of Grapes.", she extended a hand towards Knuckles. "I can take you there if you'd li-"

Knuckles let out an awkward chuckle, interrupting Tikal's offer. "Oh-ho-ho, no! I got this. You just...stay there, okay…? I'll be right back…", he says before walking elsewhere. It took him a while to find the hot spring, but when he did, he slowly entered the fairly shady area. The spring wasn't too big, and there weren't any living creatures surrounding him, so he felt that he could get the most privacy here.

Before he stepped foot into the hot spring, he reached up and grabbed ahold of a branch, collecting a cluster of grapes to munch on while bathing. He knew there was no time to waste, so he immediately set foot into the spring. He shivered as that familiar "so hot that it's cold" feeling briefly took over his body. He decided to quickly finish the grapes in his hand before frantically scrubbing his fur and ridding it of any excess dirt. After several minutes, he finally exited from the spring, mostly clean. Whilst shaking himself dry and wringing out any excess water out of his hair, he began to have some thoughts, mainly about Tikal.

_This is kinda weird; I'm usually so awkward around girls, but not around Tikal. I wonder why…? It can't be because-oh, no! Please let it not be that…! But ...there's just something that's making me feel Tikal in mysterious ways, and I can't seem to control it. Everytime I'm around Tikal, this weird feeling comes back. I wish I knew why I was feeling it…_

He shook the rest of the water out of his hair before heading elsewhere.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tikal was having pretty much the same thoughts, except hers were more... _personal_...than Knuckles's. She weighed her head down and closed her eyes, crossing her legs and bringing herself into deep thought.

_Oh, Knuckles. Everytime you're around, I have this weird sensation, like I'm almost in Heaven, but I'm not sure precisely why. You've treated me so nicely, you always help me whenever I need it, and, heh heh, you always blush whenever we're together, and it's really cute when you do so. Maybe you feel the same way as I do…?_

She squirmed when she heard the sounds of footsteps approaching her. She looked up to see none other than Knuckles towering over her.

"Hey, thanks for staying put…", Knuckles says.

Tikal hummed before standing up and turning to face Knuckles. She grasped both of Knuckles hands, causing him to blush yet again.

"Wha-what are you doing…?", he asked, a bit uncomfortable.

Tikal giggled. "You're blushing again…", she remarked. Knuckles growled and squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to lose his temper once more from more supposed "embarrassment".

Tikal looked like she desperately wanted to say something, but just couldn't get it out of her mouth. Standing face-to-face with Knuckles, she began to speak:

"I understand why you were being so awkward earlier. It _did_ seem like we were being very physical…", she says, knowing that wasn't all she wanted to say.

Knuckles hummed. "Ya damn right, it did…", he mumbled, shaking his head and letting out a barely audible chuckle.

"...but...you _enjoyed_ it, right…?", she bashfully asked. _Well, that didn't come out right…_

Knuckles removed his hands from Tikal's grip and balled up his fists. Tikal opened her eyes while her arms remained in a somewhat extended position.

"Hey, what are you saying!? Of course I didn't enjoy it! I thought you were gonna do some funny stuff to me or something!", he yelled, trying to hide the blush trying to take over his muzzle. _Okay, that went too far. It was only a massage, so get it together, Knucklehead!_

Tikal placed her hands to her side and sighed, bashfully facing away from Knuckles while swinging one foot over her ankle. "No, silly! I guess what I'm trying to say is...I _really_ enjoy being with you, and I hope you do, too…", she mumbled.

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, of course I do. You're my friend, so why wouldn't I?", he asked.

Tikal groaned in her head. What she _really_ wanted to say just struggled to come out. She was too scared, that's why. She was afraid that Knuckles might yell at her for "getting any funny ideas", as he liked to call it, so she decided to abruptly end the conversation with: "Well, I dearly appreciate that, but we must be heading back before my dad returns."

Knuckles nodded. "Right, let's go!", he says, letting Tikal climb onto his back, and with that, they took off.

Whilst flying, Tikal looked down at Knuckles, who wasn't paying any attention to her at the moment. She giggled, thinking of what happened just moments ago at the Garden of Grapes. Now she can see why Knuckles was being so awkward at the moment; yeah, they've made unassertive physical contact in the past, but it seemed like this was the most physical contact he's ever gotten, especially from a female. Knuckles, however, was actually feeling better than ever after their time at the garden, especially since his muscles were less tense and his back was no longer aching, so she assumed the extra physical contact was worth their time. Plus, she got to spend time with Knuckles in private yet again, so she took that as an accomplishment, as well.

Her thoughts trailed off when Knuckles shifted his eyes to her briefly and began a conversation.

"Hey…", he said, awkwardly drawing out the word. _So, he's still embarrassed from the situation._

Tikal hesitated. She didn't know how to respond to a comment that had such a strange tone added to it. She assumed that he was going to bring up that little "event" again. She bit her lip and smiled at the same time, which created a very strange combination of a facial expression.

"Uh...h-hello…?", she responded.

There was a brief silence between the 2, but it took long enough for Knuckles to form a subtle scowl. _Ugh, you just made it awkward again…_ , he thought to himself. He was thinking about what happened at the Garden of Grapes again, but he just couldn't help it. Between a female rubbing his back, offering to take him to a hot spring, and asking a question that he took the wrong way, he knew that it would take a while to step up to Tikal again without feeling so uncomfortable.

To hide the light blush taking over his face, he quickly asked: "So, why are you in such a hurry to make it back before your dad?", he asked.

Tikal hesitated yet again. "I must...pray to Chaos again…and I don't want him interrupting my prayer time!", she lied. _Tsk, tsk, tsk. Biggest lie in the world. You poor girl..._

"Oh...okay…", he responded, raising a brow of confusion. _She's lying again, isn't she? You poor girl..._

"Well, good luck with that, I guess…", he added.

Tikal frowned. She hated lying to others, especially the ones she was close to, such as Knuckles and Pachacamac, but she also didn't want to be seen as a "good girl gone bad", as they would've said in Knuckles's timeline. In her timeline, however, she would've been considered a "traitor", despite not being the leader of the Knuckles Clan. She wished she could stop focusing on Pachacamac and start focusing more on her occupation as the Guardian of the Master Emerald.

"So, what do you think father would say if he sees your non-echidna friends?", she asked.

"I don't know. What would he say when he finds out you're friends with someone from our rival clan?", he responded. "No, actually, what would he say when he catches both of us with not only her, but my friends, too?" _Oh, great Chaos…_ , he thought to himself. She and Knuckles would have a lot of explaining to do should her father find out about their alliance with Shade and Knuckles's other friends. Also, should Pachacamac find out about Tikal's little "secret", well, let's just say she'll "have her ass handed to her".

Tikal placed a palm on her face and sighed. _Oh, we're in serious trouble_ …, she thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Knuckles seems a bit OOC in this chapter, but trust me, there's a reason behind this, and I'll reveal it later. Next chapter coming soon.


	20. The Reunion of Shade and Imperator IX and Knuckles and his Friends Reunite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shade manages to free Sonic, Tails, and Amy from their trap and advises them to leave and leave her to fight Imperator IX after a rather bitter-sweet reunion; Knuckles eventually reunites with his friends, but they must hide before Pachacamac returns so as to not get in any more trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda had a case of food poisoning, so I couldn't finish this chapter when I initially wanted to. Happy July! ^_^

_20 - The Reunion of Shade and Imperator IX and Knuckles's Friends Reunite_

Meanwhile in Albion, away from Knuckles and Tikal, we're led into a dark room, far away from where Knuckles and Imperator IX fought. It looked way bigger than it actually was, but a few burning flames within this room would cast shadows that would show off just how small this room actually was.

But this room wasn't empty. In fact, a few grunts and deep breaths within the room here and there would conclude that. But who was making these sounds and where in the room was it coming from?

"Sorry, guys. I can't seem to loosen the rope…", a kid's voice said.

"Well, try harder! You know I don't like being tied up! These legs weren't built for confinement!", another voice yelled. Now we know that these 2 are tied up, and from how the tone of voice sounded, this was someone who  _definitely_ didn't want to stay tied up, as he's rushing this kid to untie them free.

"Relax,  _Sonikku_! I'm sure Tails knows what he's doing, but now you should let me keep you some company…", another voice said. This must be a female's voice, as the tone of voice sounded more flirtatious than the other 2's...or maybe this was a  _guy_ , instead. Who knows?

"Ugh, Amy...stop scooting so close to me…", 'Sonikku' groaned. Well, now we know who these 3 were; Tails, Amy, and Sonikku, but why were they tied up?

"Wow, I didn't know heading to Angel Island in  _this_ timeline would get us in this situation. Maybe it was super sacred property at this time, and they must think were intruders or something…", Tails assumed. Well, now we know  _why_ they're tied up.

"I swear, whoever "they" are will wish they didn't mess with me…", Sonikku groaned.

"Relax, Sonic, I'll get us free before you know it.", Tails reassured, but nonetheless he continued to struggle with the tightly tied rope...using his  _tails_. Apparently, Tails's tails were prehensile.

Amy sighed. "I can't believe I'm actually  _this_ close to you, Sonikku! It's like a dream come true, only worse, but not exactly bad enough to be a nightmare!", Amy whispers.

Sonikku-correction,  _Sonic_ , sighed. "I know, right? I  _never_ expected us to be so... _close…_ ", he drew out the last word with a very uneasy tone whilst also trying to scoot away from Amy.

Sonic felt Amy scoot closer to him. "You seem tense. Don't worry, you'll always have  _me_ , no matter what happens to us…", she mumbled.

Sonic hummed. "Yeah, I guess you're right...just-don't touch me, okay…?", he grumbled, trying to scoot farther away from Amy despite the limited space they had within the tightly-tied rope.

Amy chuckled quietly enough so that Tails didn't hear them. "How ironic of you to say such words, Sonikku. Look how close we are to each other, and you call this "not touching"..." Well, she wasn't wrong...

Sonic groaned. "You know what I meant - just-don't do no funny business to me…", he responded.

Amy nodded, acknowledging Sonic's words. "Well, sure, if by funny business, you mean-", but she was abruptly interrupted by a sudden jolt coming from Tails. Apparently, he gave up with untying the rope.

"I'm sorry, guys. I can't really get this knot loose…", he mumbled.

"That's cool. That's just more time with me and my Sonikku!", Amy giggled.

They all froze when they heard footsteps approaching. A bit of outside light began to creep through the crack of the entrance. The being that entered was what looked to be an echidna, but it  _definitely_ wasn't Knuckles. This one looked different; this echidna's hair was a bit shorter than Knuckles's, and it physically looked more female. She was wearing a mask, as well as an outfit with magenta markings that gleamed brightly. Despite these attributes, however, she didn't look as intimidating as she should've.

"Who're  _you_?", Amy asked.

The being didn't respond. Instead, she approached the confined trio and took out a sharp knife. Tails tensed up.

"I think she's gonna kill us!", Tails whispered.

"Hey, are you trying to kill us? Cause with me, that's never gonna work!", Sonic said, but instead of, say, "killing" them, the being grabbed the rope they were tied up in and cut right through it, ripping it and thus freeing the trio.

"Oh, um...thanks…", Tails says, stretching a bit.

All 3 stood up and loosened their muscles.

"Whew! It feels good to be free again.", Sonic sighed, jogging in place. "Thanks a bunch!"

"No problem. Now, let's get out of here. You have a visitor that's eager to see you…", the being explained.

"A visitor that's eager to see us? Wait, is it  _Knuckles_?", Amy asked.

She nodded. "Now, let's go! You don't want to stay here for any longer! You  _must_ return to Angel Island. I'm sure Tikal will grant you access.", she explained.

"Tikal? Who's that?", Tails asked.

"Look, I have no time to explain, just look for a young, orange-haired echidna. You must leave  _now_!", she pleaded.

"Alright. Let's go, you guys!", Sonic shouted.

"I'll take you there…", the darker being says.

Sonic shrugged. "That's cool.", he says.

But once they made it outside of the room, they were stopped by none other than Imperator IX. The dark being pointed his scepter to the escapees.

"You've escaped! But how!?", he shouted.

The smaller dark being turned to face IX. She removed her mask and out shone a familiar face. She furrowed her brows as she approached IX, patiently waiting for the consequences to come.

"Shade!? You broke them free!?", he asked.

"I might've…why…?", she asked, pretending to be ignorant of the whole situation.

Sonic chuckled, smirking at what looked to be the same being that trapped him and his friends. "Well, looked who showed up…", he mumbled. Yes, these 3 knew who this familiar face was...well, they didn't know his name, but they recognized him.

Amy growled and pulled out her trademark Piko Piko Hammer and slowly approached the dark being. "Hey, you tied us up for no reason! Explain yourself!", she yelled. She, however, couldn't advance forward when Shade extended an arm in front of her, blocking her path.

"Don't come any closer; I'll handle him.", Shade says.

Sonic was next to approach the 2 females. " Hold up,  _Shade_. He's the one who trapped us. I think he deserves a taste of his own medicine…", he added, rolling his neck and cracking it a few times.

"No, just leave. I can handle him…", Shade responded.

Sonic raised a brow. "You sure? Because I can bring him down in 1 hit!", Sonic says with a smug tone.

"Thanks for the offer, but it's still a "no" from me. This might get  _very_  personal and I don't want any of you in my way…", Shade muttered, weighing her head down. "Now, go. Knuckles will be very eager to see you 3. I think it will be quite a precious reunion, even though I won't be present for it…", Shade explained, a smirk taking over her face.

Sonic shrugged. "Oh, well, suit yourself. Come on, Amy, put the hammer down and let's go…", he explained, beckoning towards Amy. Amy looked towards Sonic with confusion before shrugging, ridding of her hammer and walking towards Tails, as does Sonic, and with that, the 3 fly off into the distance. Meanwhile, Shade brings her focus back to IX.

"You traitor! You're befriending those hideous intruders!? How could you defile your glorious race for these trespassers!?", he asked, obviously very livid towards Shade, but Shade wasn't intimidated. Far from it, actually.

She pointed a finger accusingly at IX. "I think I should be calling  _you_ the traitor. Remember my arm? Remember when you just...mercilessly cut my arm? I was but a wee child, and you hurt me badly. It bled, and I thought I was going to die at just the tender age of 6, and there you were, wondering why I never came back to my clan…", she explained.

"I might've broken some rules from time to time, but I didn't know any better; I was only a child learning how to fight for our clan...and yet, you still insisted on punishing a child so brutally. I ran away because of your way of disciplining our clan members. It's foul. You need to be gentler to our people, make sure they  _don't_ smell like the rotting blood seeping from their wounds of punishment…", she finished.

"You might've just been a mere child, but even the youngest have to endure consequences if they don't acknowledge my rules. Bear in mind that I was simply teaching you how to fend for yourself! This world is too dangerous for those who are defenseless, especially at a time such as this where our rival clan plans to destroy us for good!", IX responded.

"I'm well aware of that, but I believe you should discipline your kind in a more passive manner. If anything, wounding them would render them  _less_  obedient, such as I.", Shade argued.

IX growled. "That's untrue! You just don't take well to authority is all!", he argued as well.

Shade shook her head. "Either way, I will be getting my revenge, and once I defeat you, you'll rethink your ways of discipline for sure!", she growled assuming a fighting stance.

This was the day that she long awaited for; to show IX that she didn't need to be a part of a clan where people got cut as punishment, that she can live without her clan, that she has the freedom to interact with whoever stepped foot on foreign property, even if it was restricted to only 1 race, however she wasn't  _entirely_  certain that she could defeat a being much more superior to her, but she wasn't one to give up immediately, especially when her and her friends' lives were at stake at this very moment.

* * *

Meanwhile at Angel Island, Knuckles and Tikal have just landed near the Altar. Tikal tried to distance herself from Knuckles, but she failed when Knuckles randomly called out to her. She jumped as he did so.

"Tikal…?", he drew out warily. "You sure you're not trying to do anything stupid?", he asked.

"I'm certain, Knuckles. I assure you that I'm not lying…", Tikal responded hesitantly.

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "Hey, you hesitated! You sure you're not trying to do that "kill your dad" thing that you wanted to do?", Knuckles asked.

Tikal looked up to see 3 others heading their way. "Uh, hey, who's that!?", she yelled, running towards them. Knuckles looked up and saw pretty much the same people that Tikal was seeing. He blocked his face with his hand so as to get a better look at whoever was approaching them. When he was able to observe them long enough, his eyes widened.

"Wait! I know who that is!", he yelled out to Tikal before running towards them. "Tails! Sonic! Amy! Hey, you guys!", he yelled out to the ones in the air.

The one called Tails looked down to the direction of a gruff voice yelling at him. His eyes widened as he hurriedly landed towards the one who was calling him. When they saw who it was, they were overjoyed.

"Knuckles!?", they all shouted in unison.

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Hmph, so it  _is_  you 3…", he chuckled.

"Knuckles!", Tails shouted, running towards the echidna and practically bear-hugging him. Knuckles grunted in exertion from the sudden force applied to him from the embrace.

Finally, Tails released Knuckles from the embrace and dusted himself off. "Thank goodness you're okay; we've been looking all over for you!", he explained.

"Oh, yeah. Something weird happened and the next thing I know, I end up  _here_. Some alternate version of Angel Island or whatever…", Knuckles explained, checking out his surrounding once more.

Sonic approached him. "Yeah, we know. Nice designs, by the way…", Sonic says, complementing Knuckles's tribal paint.

"Oh, thanks...I guess…", the echidna responded.

Tikal soon approached the 3 and bowed to them. "Greetings! I'm Tikal. I assume you're Knuckles's friends?", she asked.

"Yeah. I'm Sonic, and this is Tails and Amy!", Sonic says, extending a hand to Tikal. She responded by getting on one knee and taking his hand, giving it a small peck from her lips.

Sonic blushed. "Uh, well, I was...uh...expecting a  _handshake_ , but that'll do…", he chuckled nervously.

Tikal shrugged and got up once more. She assumed "handshake" was another one of those words from Knuckles's timeline that she didn't know about.

"I believe we must go. My dad will return any minute and he's not too good with strangers…", Tikal warned.

Amy raised a brow. "Why? Is he gonna tie us up like that other dude did?", she asked.

Tikal shrugged. "Probably. We'll just have to hide for the time being until we can come back here for tonight to set up bedding for you 3."

Tails smiled. "I'm sure he'll be asleep at that time, anyway, so I guess that'll work.", Tails responded.

"We'll be heading to our secret Chao Garden. I think you 3 will  _love_  it there!", Tikal giggled, heading to the direction of said Chao Garden.

Whilst following Tikal, Sonic suddenly remembered something from the past that he decided to bring up to Tails.

"Hey, Tails? You remember that time we went to the Hero Garden and you had that 1 Chao that, uh, kept blooming flowers around you?", Sonic whispered to Tails.

"Ugh, don't even remind me. It was the creepiest thing  _ever_ …", Tails responded with a shudder.

Sonic placed a hand on Tails's shoulder. "Ah, don't worry, buddy. Hopefully that won't happen again…"

"Yeah, I hope…", Tails sighed.

The 5 continued forward to Tikal's secret Chao Garden. Tikal thought it was a good idea to hide these 3 until further notice because she didn't want to have to all of the explaining should they get caught with those who weren't fit for the Knuckles Clan, especially if they were now her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when the next chapter will come, but hopefully earlier than this one.


	21. The Brawl of Shadow and Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow and Chaos duke it out once more; Chaos drops some Master Emerald shards and they’re now in Shadow's posession, thus making him stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been doing an ass-ton of work over the past few weeks, so I've had NO time to myself. Anyway, please enjoy!

Whilst Shadow and Eggman were still at the latter's headquarters, the former decided to continue what they were doing before. He heads back to the room where Eggman still was and tell him that he was ready to continue their search for the Master Emerald Shards. No time to be reminiscing about Maria, now.

He slowly entered through the 2 sliding doors, which automatically opened for him. He slowly walked in to find the egghead with his head resting on his arms, which were lying above his resting head. Shadow swore that he could hear some soft snoring coming from the doctor.

 _He's asleep…_ , Shadow thought to himself. _I better go wake him up…_

But Shadow wasn't one to just shake someone awake. He decided to instead teach Eggman that sleep was never on their schedule, so he approached the sleeping doctor's neck and, with an open hand, slapped the back of the doctor's bald head.

Luckily, he responded. He jerked himself awake and snorted loudly. His shaded eyes were slightly widened and he froze, wondering what just hit him, but he got a clue after hearing a deep voice speak.

"Had a good nap, doctor?", Shadow asked blandly.

Eggman slowly faced wherever the voice came from and yawned, stretching out his arms in the process.

"Oh...hey, Shadow. Something up…?", the doctor asked.

Shadow crossed his arms. "We should go now. I'm getting tired of sitting in this dark place...", he responded.

Eggman clapped once. "Oh, right. Some fresh air would be nice…and maybe we could keep looking for those shards, too...", he muttered.

Shadow shook his head. "Don't get too distracted, doctor. You should remember that they're others looking for those shards.", he warned.

Eggman stood up. "Don't worry; I have all of that under control. This time, I won't be stopped by that pesky blue hedgehog thanks to you!", he responded.

Shadow sighed. "You're welcome. Now, let's go.", he responded.

* * *

 At the moment, Shadow and Eggman had no idea where they were going, nor did they really care. All that mattered was they were able to find all of the Master Emerald Shards so that they could get their mission over with. They remembered that others, such as Sonic, Tails, Amy, and even Chaos, were also after the shards, so they would persistently clash into each other until they got any shards that they had.

Everything seemed calm for Eggman, however Shadow thought otherwise. Shadow was acting more wary than usual, narrowing his eyes and looking from side to side constantly. Eggman was quick to notice.

"Hey, Shadow. What's going on with you? Are we being spied on or something?", the doctor asked.

Shadow bit his cheek. "Probably. He's not in front of us, but he's here. I also sense some shards around, so that must be why he's here…", he responded.

Eggman raised a brow. "Who's here, Shadow?", he asked.

Before Shadow could respond, however, Shadow quickly grabbed Eggman's arm and swung him aside, away from himself. Eggman grunted from the impact of hitting the grass beneath him and groaned in pain when he got up.

"You pesky little hedgehog...!", he mumbled. "What do you...think you're doi-", he was interrupted by what he saw in front of him. Eggman must've never seen this best before, hence his baffled facial expression.

Shadow stared attentively at the beast upon him before facing towards Eggman, who assumed a fighting stance, but Shadow simply shook his head at him.

"Just stay where you are, doctor. We both know you can't do this; I'm way stronger than you right now. You'll just be defeated in one hit.", he said, also assuming a fighting stance. He shot a brief smirk at the doctor, who was probably scowling from his comment.

"Nothing personal…", he said. Eggman swore that he heard a silent chuckle coming from Shadow afterwards.

Shadow faced his opponent once more and stared attentively; he noticed that Chaos had found more shards of the Master Emerald while he and Eggman were gone.

 _So he found more of them while we were gone. Well, I'll just have to take them from him…_ , Shadow thought to himself.

Shadow was still able to read Chaos's mind, and he took his sweet time doing so.

"I already know you want me dead...but, you're trying to reseal me in the Master Emerald…? Knowing damn well there was no purpose behind that to begin with…?", he asked, not understanding Chaos's motive.

But then Shadow was able to understand everything Chaos wanted, but he simply scoffed.

" _Me_? Make _you_ stable? So _that's_ your purpose for wanting me dead? Hah! Under my dead body!", he scoffed, the irony coming in strong. "I'd rather rot in my own blood than to stabilize you!"

Shadow began slowly walking in circles around the more powerful Chaos, becoming more and more wary of the beast's enlarged arm. "Now, I see you've found more of the shards. If you would just kindly hand them over, we won't have any problems…but if not, then I'll happily accept a rematch...", he explained, aware that he hasn't gotten any stronger ever since their previous fight.

Chaos mirrored Shadow's movements; he consistently turned in circles so that he was facing Shadow the entire time. It seemed like Chaos wasn't listening to Shadow; he wasn't going to give away these shards anytime soon. But that didn't mean that Shadow wasn't going to vet them; all he had to do was try harder.

"Oh, uncooperative, are we?", he asked. Before he could finish, he was rudely interrupted by Eggman. Shadow didn't jump, despite completely forgetting the doctor was still present.

"Shadow, what are you doing!?", he asked. "Just destroy him!"

Shadow furrowed his brows. "Just be patient, doctor. I know I haven't gotten any stronger since last time, but this is my chance to do so…", he reassured before returning his attention to his opponent.

Chaos's eyes emitted a dim green light, indicating some sort of emotion.

"Why the angry look? I didn't do anything yet…", Shadow chuckled. "Since you won't give me the shards, we'll have to take more extreme measures!", instead of getting ready, Shadow just went for the spot that stood out the most; Chaos's enlarged arm. Little did he know, however, that this arm would be good for countering the many Homing Attacks Shadow used against it.

Once he flurry of attacks stopped, Shadow took a moment to regain his breath. So that arm's for more than show…, however before Shadow could complete his train of thoughts, he quickly dodged a hard swing from said arm.

After dodging it a few times, Shadow was finally able to land a hit on Chaos, but it was on his side, one of many spots to worry the least about. It did some damage, but not enough.

Shadow searched around for something until he faced Eggman once again, doing a signal towards him. When Eggman wasn't able to understand what Shadow wanted, the latter pointed towards the doctor's left. Apparently, the Chaos Emerald that they had fell out when he was pushed out of the way. Shadow needed said emerald for assistance.

Without thinking, Eggman frantically threw the emerald towards Shadow. Unfortunately, Eggman's trajectory was wonky, thus he managed to throw the emerald not into Shadow's hands, but directly into Chaos's body. Shadow looked towards Eggman, visibly annoyed. The fact that he had neither irises nor pupils pupils made pupils made his stare look really evil.

"Sorry…", the doctor apologized, embarrassed. Right after, they noticed that Chaos was changing once again, this time, his other arm grew in size as well as his upper body. He also grew considerably in height. This was also when Shadow noticed a second Chaos Emerald within Chaos's other arm, the one that remained enlarged until now.

 _So the Chaos Emeralds are responsible for his transformation. Since we no longer have any more Chaos Emeralds, I'll just have to beat one of them out of them, then I'll get those shards..._ but would this work at Shadow's current state?

He sighed. Even though he had no Chaos Emerald, he still had some shards within him as well as Sonic's energy racing through his body from his arm. He didn't feel like this was enough, however, as last time he tried to fight Chaos, he was ultimately defeated, and he was in his base form during that time.

Shadow stared him down for a while before finally taking initiative, but before he could even act, Chaos tried to attack him with both of his arms interchangeably, so he decided to use Sonic's stolen energy to dodge his attacks. For now, the fight was tied and it dragged on for a while until Chaos transformed again, this time without the use of Chaos Emeralds.

Shadow noticed a giant blue ball of goop forming before him; he assumed that this was Chaos, however he wasn't exactly sure why he was transforming yet again, but he nonetheless prepared to attack. He attempted to jump to Chaos's height to produce a flurry of kicks. They all seemed to do something to Chaos; he was reacting by contracting and relaxing his body repeatedly, however he wasn't taking much damage.

When Shadow was done with his attack, Chaos managed a hard hit on Shadow, causing him to fall and hit the ground below. He groaned, trying to get up and regain his composure. He wasn't going to let Chaos defeat him like he did last time. He had to win this time if it would get himself and the doctor somewhere.

He decided to just continue using Sonic's speed, whilst using his brawn at the same time so that he could not only outrun his attacks, but he could also land some kicks, punches, and Homing attacks on the monster. It worked better than a few minutes ago, and Chaos was taking considerable damage, to the point where he was actually growing weak, however this was short-lived, as Chaos decided to use a rather effective shield against Shadow. When Shadow hit the shield, he was yet again left on the ground, this time with several bruises on his body. They burned, too.

He tried again, however the same thing happened; nothing but roars of pain erupting from the ebony hedgehog and the sounds of electricity jolting through his body. This was when he realized that that shield was electrocuting him. After several more tries, Shadow was lying on his back and panting. He grew weak from Chaos's electrocuting shield and he was developing more bruises the more he tried to attack.

When a weakened Shadow finally rose from the ground, he stumbled a bit before getting into a sort of bent over position; his hands were on his knees and he was struggling to catch his breath. Then Chaos finally reverted into his original form, and he just stood there.

Shadow scowled at Chaos. He wasn't giving up just yet. All he had to do was retrieve those shards, and hopefully the Chaos Emerald, too. Better yet, if he could remove Chaos of both of those emeralds, then he'll revert back into his base form, making him easier to defeat.

But at his state, he wasn't sure how he was going to do all of this. That is, until one of the emeralds suddenly fell out of Chaos. Shadow didn't immediately notice, but Chaos had reverted back to his previous state. He saw the Chaos Emerald lying below the beast. He made some measly attempts at getting it, stumbling over a few times. Unfortunately, Chaos was able to get a hold of the emerald once more, however Shadow was lucky yet again, as it fell out of his hand again.

"Shadow! Hurry up! Get the emerald!", a voice yelled from behind. Shadow looked back to see Eggman holding a rather dinky little blaster.

"I already shot the emerald out of his reach twice! Now, go!", he yelled once again. Apparently, the emeralds weren't falling out of Chaos; instead, Eggman was shooting it out of him so that Shadow could reach it. Shadow wasted no time and finally took a hold of the emerald.

 _Fox Boy used Chaos Control against him to defeat him. This is my only chance._ Shadow stood straight and gave Chaos a wide smirk. It was finally time to end it all.

"Chaos Control!", he shouted. Whilst everything including Chaos was frozen, he delivered what seemed to be a fatal kick to his visible brain. It seemed like he had finally defeated Chaos...right? Shadow noticed that Chaos dropped the shards that he was holding onto.

He shouted out the words "Chaos Control" once more and everything was back to normal. Shadow noticed Chaos frantically retreating elsewhere, forgetting all about the shards that he dropped.

After Chaos finally disappeared, Shadow bent over to grab the shards from the ground before scoffing in disgust. "Hmph, what a wussy…", he mumbled before walking towards Eggman, scowling at him.

"So you interfered without my permission…", he muttered.

Eggman crossed his arms and pouted. "Hey, at least I helped…", he said.

Shadow scoffed. "Barely…", he responded, walking away from Eggman. The latter turned so that he could face Shadow once more.

"Well, at least we have our Chaos Emerald again... _and_ more shards. So far, so good, right?", the doctor asked.

"Don't get too excited, doctor; we just got started.", Shadow responded before observing the shards. It turns out that they were quite in a bit of luck because Shadow had counted a total of 5 shards. It wasn't a lot, but it was the most that they've found for the first time.

Shadow bit his lip before he slowly pushed 1 of the shards into his arm. It was enough to emit a strong surge of energy through him for a few brief seconds while his bruises healed almost immediately. He placed the other 4 shards in other random places. It seemed like Shadow had gotten stronger from these shards, however he could only guess that.

He knew for sure, though, that his senses had gotten more sensitive; even though Chaos was gone, he was still able to sense a faint presence coming from him, which could also mean that it would be easier for he and Eggman to find the rest of the shards, since he was able to sense those, too.

Shadow turned to face Eggman. Before they could do anything else, Shadow had to find the rest of the shards. He refused to let their mission end the same way it did previously.

"Hey, Shadow. Don't you wanna test out your strength first? You know, cause of the extra shards?", the doctor asked.

Shadow chuckled. "Let's not waste all of my energy on useless tests. We have a mission to do and it's going to be a success…", he explained.

Eggman simply nodded and followed Shadow elsewhere. It seems like the duo are back on track; they had a Chaos Emerald once again and they found some more shards, however they knew that this mission would grow more and more tedious since there were others looking for the shards.

They also didn't realize that some of the shards they would need would never be found unless under extreme circumstances, but they had yet to discover this. At the moment, the duo continued with their designated route.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to just immediately turn Chaos 1 into Chaos 2 in this chapter because, honestly, Chaos 1 is pretty useless and nobody cares about him. Also I know Chaos 2's shield doesn't electrocute, but I just wanted this fight to be more interesting. Again, sorry for being so busy. ;A;


	22. Sonic and Friends' Fun Time and Tikal and Knuckles's Personal Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tikal gets to know Knuckles's friends a little better and she eventually formulates a plan to sneak them into their tent to sleep for the night; Knuckles and Tikal have some "private time" together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um there’s a little Knuckles X Tikal tension here, so yeah. Please enjoy! ^_^

After several minutes, Tikal, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, and Amy had finally arrived at the secret Chao Garden of Angel Island. Tikal and Knuckles sat at the edge of the pool within the garden whilst the rest of the company explored the rest of the garden. It seemed like these new visitors were enjoying the view of the environment, as they were consistently looking around, making varied reactions to certain things they saw. Sonic was especially fond of this environment; he gasped with awe occasionally.

It was barely noticeable, but Tikal was being _way_ more wary than usual towards Sonic and Tails; it seemed like after making contact with them, her senses had become exceptionally heightened. We have yet to know why, though.

She broke out of her trance when she heard Sonic speak. “So _this_ is the secret Chao Garden..”, the blue hedgehog mumbled. “I can't believe we didn't run into this place sooner…”

Tails raised a brow. “But why is it located in a fairly populated village?”, he asked.

Tikal turned her head and smiled weakly. “I’m not quite sure why, however I _do_ know that the rest of us never really go farther than the Altar…”, she turned her head back towards the pool. “Probably because of this war…only _I've_ discovered it before I met you guys.”

“ _War_ ?”, Amy asked, placing her hands on her hips. “What _war_?”

Tikal shook her head. “It's a long story; I'll provide the details some other time.”

Knuckles stood up and threw a few punches into the air. “Yeah, well the next time IX comes in contact with these fists, they'll make him and his crew run away to their parents!”, he bragged. A wider smile grew on Tikal’s face. A very quiet chuckle escaped from her lips, remembering what happened last time after Knuckles’s fight with IX.

Tikal turned to the rest of her friends. “Why don't you guys sit by the pool with me?”, she offered. Tails and Amy didn't seem to mind the offer, however Sonic was a little suspicious about this pool, but Tails ran to the edge of it and looked down; the water was only about a few inches high.

“Hey, Sonic! The water's very shallow!”, he shouted, stepping into the water. “It's not even above my ankles. You'll survive.”

Tails sat next to Tikal, while Amy settled next to Knuckles. She faced Sonic and tapped on a spot next to her.

“Come sit next to me, Sonikku!”, she giggled.

Sonic let out an uncomfortable chuckle before settling next to _Tails_ instead.

Amy pouted. “Aw, okay…”, she mumbled in defeat.

Tikal was first to start a conversation. ”You 3 look quite different. Where are you all from?”, Tikal asks.

“Well, you see, we’re from the future, just like Knuckles, but we came here to find him and send him and us back.”, Tails explains.

Tikal nodded. She examined Tails for a bit, well, she didn't examine _himself_ as much as she did his _twin-tails_. She hummed with admiration.

“You have 2 tails…”, she says.

Tails looked behind him. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I was born with these. I use them to fly. They're pretty cool, but I didn't really like them at first. Some people, you know?”

“Indeed, some are just too ignorant to want to know the positives in unfamiliar things…”, Tikal says.

Tails smiled wide. _I think this will be the start of a great friendship…_ , he thought to himself.

Amy reached from behind Knuckles to touch one of Tikal’s locs. “Your hair kinda reminds me of Knuckles’s, except shorter and... _orange_!”, Amy says.

Tikal hummed with acknowledgement. ‘“Everyone in our clan has our texture of hair. It’s a centuries-long tradition to lock our hair, just like with the body paint.”, she explains, pointing towards Knuckles.

Amy observed Knuckles’s body paint. “I see..”, she said before changing the subject. “Anyway, about that war…”

Tikal almost frowned but fought the urge to do so. “My father and Imperator IX just can't decide who is the stronger clan so they're in a constant battle over power. If only they knew of the risks behind some of their actions…”, she explained. “Last time we had war, almost all of our clan went extinct--”, she suddenly changed the subject again. “--but Knuckles and I have been having a great time with each other. He’s a sweet person, really.”

Sonic snickered. “Yeah, _bittersweet_ …”, he mumbled.

Knuckles gave Sonic a quick side-eye. “I heard that…”, he mumbled. Sonic didn't respond after that.

Tikal faced Sonic. “Why _bittersweet_? Does he not treat you so nicely?”, she asked.

Sonic shrugged. “You could say that. We have a complicated history together…”, he responded.

Tikal nodded with acknowledgement. “I see…”, she responded. From the corner of her eye, she saw Knuckles roll his eyes and scowl at Sonic.

“Well, I believe Knuckles is the sweetest in the world. He’s kind, helpful, and a pleasure to be around.”, she explained, blushing.

“So does that mean that you 2 are in love?”, Amy asked unabashedly. Knuckles simply looked away and grunted.

Sonic faced Knuckles and gave him a wide grin. “Aw, you got a girlfriend, Knuckles?”, he teased. “How cute!”

Knuckles crossed his arms and looked away from Sonic. A barely noticeable blush began to invade his cheeks. “Hah! No I don’t! I don't love Tikal, and I _never_ will!”, he responded with a slightly bashful tone.

Amy approached Knuckles and pinched his cheek. “Aw, you're blushing! How _adorable_!”, she cooed, tugging his cheek repeatedly, causing his blush to become more pronounced as he now became embarrassed by Amy’s comment.

“Hey, knock it off!”, he groaned, swatting away Amy’s hand and pouting afterwards.

“Aw, it's okay, Knuckles. Sonic and I are already together, so you don't even have to worry about it.”, she says, leaning over to eye Sonic. “Isn’t that right, Sonikku?”. Sonic simply grimaced.

“Yeah, sure, whatever, I guess…”, Sonic says. “Anyway, _playtime!_ Who wants to play _tag_?”, Sonic asked, trying to completely ignore the conversation that they just had moments ago.

“Ooh, I do!”, Tails shouts while standing up.

Tikal scratched her head. “I do not understand. What's this so-called ‘tag’ you're referring to?”, Tikal asked.

Sonic stood up. “Oh, well basically, someone has to be ‘it’, right?”, he started, putting the word ‘it’ in air quotes. “...and ‘it’ has to chase everyone else, and if someone is touched by ‘it’, then they become ‘it’ and they have to touch someone else. You understand?”, Sonic asked.

Tikal nodded. “I do, now.”, she says.

“Good.”, Sonic says. “So...1, 2, 3, not it!”, he shouted spontaneously.

“Not it!”, Tails said, followed by Amy and Knuckles, respectively.

Tikal tilted her head. She supposed that she was supposed to say “not it” as well, however it was too late by then, so she snapped her fingers once and shook her head.

“Drat! I guess that means I'm ‘it’, then…”, Tikal says.

Everyone backed away slightly when Tikal stood up. “Well, beware, because here I come!”, she shouted, blasting off towards whoever was in front of her. The other 5 ran in different directions, trying not to get tagged by “it”. Tikal looked around a bit to see who she could tag. She saw Amy in the distance and ran towards her.

Amy looked back to see Tikal running towards her. She shrieked as she saw her and tried to run faster, but unfortunately, she was tagged and thus became “it”.

“Tag, you're ‘it’!” the former “it” shouted.

Amy, who was now “it”, giggled. “I'll catch you this time!”, She shouts, running towards Tikal.

The 5 all had a _very fun_ time playing tag that they forgot that dusk was on its way. They stopped once everyone had at least 1 turn of being “it”. They all lied near a tree to relax once the fun was over.

“That was the most fun I have ever had in awhile!”, Tikal says, rolling over to her back and goofily stretching out her arms and reaching up to the sky. She let out a very strange cackle after that, similar to a croaking frog.

“Ew...you laugh ugly…”, Tails says with a slight chuckle. His comment alone caused the entire group of friends to burst into a fit of laughter.

Once the laughing died down, Tikal rolled back on her stomach and stood up, sitting on her knees. “Hey, I would like to show you guys something special.”, she says. She whistled once, and moments later, a Chao, possibly _her_ Chao, flew over to her and landed in her spread arms.

“My friends, _this_ is _Cholula_.”, she says, hugging the Chao close.

Knuckles jumped slightly when another Chao landed on his back. He crawled up to just below his head and slumped over to his right side, falling onto the grass afterwards.

“And who's _that_?” Tails asked.

“Oh, that's _Chuckles_. He belongs to Knuckles.”, Tikal says.

Both Sonic and Tails snickered at the name. “His name’s _Chuckles_?”, Sonic asked with and high-pitched voice caused by him holding in a laugh.

Knuckles groaned. “Do you really gotta call it that?”, he asked, looking away and pouting.

Amy reached over and petted the Chao on its head. A heart formed on its emoti-ball. “Well, I think it's just the _cutest_ name ever. It rhymes with _yours_.”, she says.

Knuckles shrugged. “Yeah, I guess…”, he says, and just when things couldn't get any worse, the Chao suddenly sat down and flowers began to bloom all around Knuckles.

“Oh...um...hmm…”, he was lost for words. He knew exactly what the Chao’s actions meant. The rest of the group couldn't help but laugh.

Knuckles simply growled. “Ugh, disgusting…”, he grumbled.

Tails snickered. _At least it’s not happening to me…_ , he thought to himself.

Tikal looked up and immediately realized that it was getting dark. “Oh, dear. Dusk is on its way.”, she says. “We sleep in tents near the Altar; you guys can sleep with _us_ , but we'll have to sneak in so that we don't get in trouble…”

Sonic nodded. “Well, I'm not exactly good at sneaking around, but if it'll get us somewhere, then I'm up for it.”, he responded.

Tikal placed a fist on her chin. “I believe it's best that we go around midnight when everyone is inactive.”, she suggested. 

“So what time is it _now_?”, Amy asked. 

Tikal looked up at the sky and still saw a bit of orange in the sky. “It's still sunset. We have a few more hours until midnight.”, she said. “In the meantime, why don't we stay here and relax for a bit? I'll grab a few fruits from these trees.”

This time, Tikal didn't require any help reaching the branches on the trees because they were low enough. She grabbed a fruit for each of her new friends. These fruits were what the Chao in the garden usually ate; they sported an orange-ish pigment and they were around the size of kiwi fruits, maybe slightly larger.

She gave each of her friends one fruit each. “We may as well have something to eat while we wait. It’s going to be a while until we can sneak back to the Altar…”, she explained before facing Knuckles. While Sonic, Tails, and Amy sat elsewhere, Tikal stayed with Knuckles near the pool. She watched nonchalantly as he ate the fruit she gave him; she couldn’t help but smile everytime Knuckles did something. 

Knuckles was fairly quick to notice Tikal staring at him. “What? Something on my face?”, he asked. 

Tikal giggled. “No...it’s nothing, really…”, she responded before eating her own fruit. 

Knuckles decided that it was about time to address Tikal’s odd actions. “You know what’s weird? Every time we’re around each other, you become this girly and lovey-dovey type of person…”, he remarked.

Tikal shrugged. “I’m just always happy and carefree. I was always that way, especially when my grandma was still alive. She was exactly like me when she was younger, and I guess I picked that up from her…”, she explained, shifting closer towards Knuckles.

Knuckles responded by backing away slightly. “But see, you also become ridiculously clingy when you’re around me. All this hugging and touchy-feely stuff, you do that a lot to me.”

Tikal bit her lip. “I didn’t realize that…”, she replied. “I guess I just feel safer around you…” She then looked back at Knuckles. “Do you ever notice that your senses become heightened when you’re around me?”, she asked.

Knuckles shrugged. “I mean, kinda. I can’t really describe how it feels. I guess...I just feel you in mysterious ways, you know?”, he explained.

Tikal nodded in agreement. “I feel the same way, too…I’m not quite sure why I feel this way, though...”, they remained silent for a little while until Tikal spoke once more. “You know, you’re not the only reason my senses become heightened. Sonic and Tails do the same thing, also.”

Knuckles raised a brow. “How?”, he asked.

Tikal lowered her voice slightly so that the rest of their friends wouldn’t hear them. “I believe those 2 may have a hidden essence within them, similar to what the Master Emerald wields.”,  right when she said _Master Emerald_ , Knuckles developed an epiphany.

“The Master Emerald shards! We were supposed to find them! I hope those 3 found some--”, he was interrupted when Tikal spoke once more.

"Your Master Emerald shattered? How?", she asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "It was probably Eggman. You don't know him, but I'll tell you about him later...", he explained.

"It seems like quite an emergency...", Tikal responded. "At least nothing's happened to our Master Emerald... _yet_..."

Knuckles hummed with acknowledgement. "Now, what about Sonic and Tails? You said something about them?", he asked.

Tikal looked up in Knuckles’s general direction, but made no eye contact to him. “I’m not sure why they heighten my senses. I’ll have to question them later, however what I _do_ know it that I sense no life in _Sonic_ ; I believe he died some time before arriving here. _Something_ is keeping him _alive_ …”, she continued.

Knuckles growled. “Don't give me that bullcrap! Sonic can't possibly be _dead_!”, he said.

Tikal sighed. “His eyes lack pupils and his body isn't functioning in a natural manner. His natural conscience is gone and something is sustaining his life…I’m sorry if I'm toying with your emotions…”, she finished.

Knuckles couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sonic couldn't possibly be _dead_. Sure, he was selfless, but to be dead is a different story. How can something possibly be keeping him alive? What happened with his aforementioned “conscience”?

“Whatever, I'll figure this mess out. Let's get back to the rest of the group; I'm ready to get this ‘stealth mission’ over with--”, but Tikal held him back once more. Knuckles looked back in surprise.

Tikal blushed. “Please--”, she cried.

Knuckles turned his head back to Tikal's general direction with eyes slightly widened. He wondered what Tikal wanted now. They simply stared at each other as the situation got slightly more awkward.

Tikal was still silent for a while before letting Knuckles go. "Nothing...", she mumbled. Just before Knuckles could walk away, Tikal finally spoke. "I forgot to mention that Chaos can predict your future within the Master Emerald…", she explained.

Knuckles raised a brow. "Okay...?", he muttered.

Tikal looked down sheepishly and bit her lip. “Maybe we should try asking him questions one day and see what kind of future we’ll have…it’ll all be an unpredictable experience, but it oughta be fun...”, she mumbled, fumbling with her thumbs.

Knuckles shrugged. "Sure, I guess...", he didn't know how to respond to this, really.

Tikal bit her lip. "Hey, Knuckles...", she muttered once more. Knuckles didn't turn to her neither did he respond properly. He simply waited for her to speak once more.

“Can I have a hug?”, she finally blurted out. "I mean...because...of the war...and stuff..."

Knuckles grumbled. “Come here…”, he said, reaching his arms out for Tikal. Fortunately, this hug only lasted a few brief seconds. It wasn't an intimate hug; it was simple, passionless, and awkward. Simple taps on each other's backs and that was it.

Tikal looked up once more and saw the moon was fully out. “It should be a good time to head back to your friends. We don’t want to be too late to sneak them into our tent…”, she remarked.

The duo went back to the other 3 of the group. Now was the time to finally sneak these “unwanted visitors” into their tent for the night. For now, it should be easy for them to settle down a bit, but they might have to be a little more careful the next morning, since the majority of the clan will be active until the next midnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter coming soon (who knows, really?).


	23. The Brawl of Shade and Imperator IX (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shade and Imperator IX finally fight; Shade almost gets beaten to near-death until a last minute decision allowed her to defeat IX. Meanwhile, IX brings her to near-death once more after she burns down his hut, however help was quickly on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues from where chapter 20 left off; it's one of the more bloody chapters, so yeah. Also exams and stuff have gotten in the way for a while, so sorry for the hiatus. Please enjoy! ^_^

_23 - The Brawl of Shade and Imperator IX_

Within the Chao Garden, it was about time for the quintet to sneak into Angel Island, however 2 out of the 5 thought that this would have to wait a little while longer.

Tikal bit her lip. "Someone's in trouble. I think it's Shade!", she explained.

Knuckles hummed. "Yeah, I feel that too…", he mumbled.

Sonic approached the 2 and interrupted their train of thoughts. "Hey, guys! Something on your minds?", he asked.

Tikal's eyes widened. "We need to go rescue Shade! She  _desperately_ needs our help!", she said, frantically climbing on Knuckles's back. Knuckles grunted from the force of Tikal's sudden weight.

"Step on it! We must hurry!", she said as Knuckles began to glide into the distance. Tails looked over to Sonic and Amy.

"Hold my hands, you guys! We've got a rescue mission to accomplish!", Tails boasted.

Sonic immediately grabbed Tails's hand. "Right behind you, buddy!", he said. Amy followed soon after, nodding with anticipation. "Gotcha!", she said, and with that, they flew into the distance and on their way to Shade's current location.

* * *

Shade bit her lip. She began to wonder why she even decided to face IX in the first place; she was nowhere near as strong as he was; she would get defeated instantly. She was definitely  _nervous_ ; she was about to fight her former  _leader_ , the one who previously tried to destroy their rival race, the one who  _almost_  won the previous War of the Clans, and what did Shade do? Train with a member of their rival clan in secret in order to become a Master Guardian. Not only that, but they were also  _close friends_ , so she didn't do much that made herself equal to or superior to IX, but she was willing to risk her life for someone with almost cosmic abilities for the sake of vengeance.

IX noticed the uncertainty in Shade's face and made a remark. "Why the nervous look? I'm not doing anything yet…", he teased. "If you have butterflies in your stomach, then you should wait for those to go away…"

Shade ignored IX's comments and furrowed her brows. She couldn't wait any longer; she was ready to show IX that discipline didn't change others for the better. She charged towards IX and attempted to land a punch, only for IX to quickly move to the side, effectively dodging the attack and using his scepter to knock her away a few inches. Fortunately for her, she landed on her feet and immediately regained her posture.

Right after this, however, IX aimed his scepter at her and performed a Power Blast at her general direction, only for her to swiftly dodge it by rolling to the side. Shade managed to land a few punches and kicks here and there, but IX decided to trip the younger echidna over with his scepter. Before he could fire another Power Blast at her, she quickly took out a set of firecrackers and, using the arm of her suit, lit the fuse and threw it towards IX.

The firecrackers began to explode rather quickly, and the elder one simply stood there, unable to see anything in front of him except the thick smoke coming from those firecrackers. This gave Shade the opportunity to perform a surprise attack on the dark being; a strong kick to his face. He landed on the ground, covering his face. It seemed like Shade didn't realize that the smoke had cleared, because once IX got back up, he was able to see everything in front of him now, including Shade, who was about to throw a punch. He quickly blocked it with his hand, and held a tight grip around it.

Shade was at first puzzled, but she nonetheless tried to remove that grip from his hand. Fortunately, he removed the grip from her hand.  _Unfortunately_ , however, he immediately used both of his hands to instead grip both sides of Shade's face. IX couldn't read Shade's face; her puzzled expression was obscured by his hands forcing her face to scrunch up, meaning that that grip was  _very_ tight and it wasn't guaranteed that Shade would be able to escape it.

After a few more seconds, IX, with a sharp jerk, brought his face towards hers, performing a powerful headbutt. Shade grunted and almost sobbed in pain from the impact. Her nose and mouth began to seep out small droplets of blood and, at this moment, it seemed like Shade was powerless.

IX brought his tough face down on her softer one once again, and again, and again, about 7 or 8 times, and the more he did it, the more beat up Shade's face looked. The younger echidna choked out a few quiet grunts and sobs as her face became bloodier, but IX simply smirked at how powerless Shade looked.

He finally threw her down on her stomach, only for him to use his foot to pin her to the ground immediately afterwards. He chuckled as he watched Shade struggle.

"Poor girl. Still as weak as when you were a wee child…", he sneered.

Shade hid her pain within with a silent chuckle and smirked, however that evil smirk was dramatically obscured by her hair. "Please...I'm not done with you, yet...", she muttered, panting slightly.

IX chuckled. "Oh, really?", he said before removing his foot from her back and replacing it on her head, slowly applying more pressure to the younger echidna's temple. The poor echidna could only roar in pain as her head was being slowly crushed by IX's strong foot.

"Then how come you look so ready to give up?", he asked jokingly, applying just a little more pressure to Shade's head. "You really are weak, Shade. Had you stayed with our clan, you would've probably gotten as strong as myself…"

Shade groaned as the pressure became more pronounced. "I'm not weak. I've been training...to become stronger…", she muttered.

IX raised a brow. "Is that so?", he teased.

Shade chuckled. "Indeed. Not only physically, but spiritually, as well. You won't stand a chance against me when I become a Master Guardian…", she sneered.

"Master Guardian!? Only a member of the Knuckles Clan would want to do such nonsense...wait…!", IX spat before immediately raising his leg and bringing it down on her arm, dislocating it in the process. Shade roared from the excruciating pain.

IX removed his foot from under Shade and used it to turn her over. He briefly smirked at how crippled Shade looked before bringing his scepter towards Shade's broken arm. A strong energy beam began to slowly crawl down from the top of her shoulder all the way down to her armpit. From the loud screaming and blood pooling from her arm, it seemed like IX was doing something much worse now.

"You impudent broad. You are the biggest traitor in the universe. Training under your  _rival clan_! How despicable…", he spat out in disgust as he continued to torture Shade.

Shade sobbed. She wasn't planning on losing her arm today. She performed a facepalm in her head as she immediately thought of something. Her body began to glow a bright green as a surge of energy went through her. With a shout, she let out all of that energy, knocking away IX in the process. This was new to the dark being; he didn't expect her to do this. He continued to observe as Shade began to gently rub her arm and her entire face, all whilst giving out an evil chuckle. Before IX's eyes, all of her injuries were  _gone_. He tilted his head and Shade couldn't help but chuckle.

"You see this, IX? This is what happens when you misjudge my abilities…", she chuckled before charging extremely swiftly towards him, knocking him completely off-guard and bringing him to the ground, so hard that there were a few cracks here and there on the ground below. Before IX could react, Shade grabbed IX by the collar and brought him back up, only to perform a fast combo of kicks and punches, with the final blow sending him into a nearby tree. Shade noticed that IX wasn't moving, which meant that he must've been knocked out cold. Shade dusted herself off before nodding once.

"And that's that…", she muttered before heading farther into the deserted planet. Deep down, Shade was actually quite surprised that she managed to unleash all of that power from within; Tikal had previously taught her how to channel those powers, but she never actually thought that it would come to use.

She continued forward, however she wasn't aware that she wasn't done with business yet; she missed the faint glow of 2 small orbs coming from below her. She continued forward nonetheless, exploring the planet little at a time, however she could never find another member of the Nocturnus Clan. She was now confused.  _Where did they all go…?_ , she thought to herself. She managed to stumble across another hut, one that looked quite familiar. She entered slowly, picking up a large branch along the way and swiping it across her suit, creating a medium-sized fire in order to emit light. She searched high and low and explored the small hut, but nothing interesting could be found. That is, until she saw a small sheet of paper pinned to the wall. She looked closely at it. It read:

_The Chant of the Energy Snatcher is a spell unlike any other._

_It was that spell that got us so close to our win previously._

_It will cause any being with adequate powers to wither away quickly._

_Whilst the one casting the spell absorbs the victim's powers._

_No being from elsewhere should know of this spell._

_Any who violate this rule will be punished._

_Please read carefully and you shall Master this chant:_

" _I ask with all desire to receive the powers of the stronger ones and to become as powerful as Chaos, to help me overpower my enemies using their Cosmic powers. Allow me to sacrifice the stronger one and become stronger than them!"_

Shade hummed. The Chant of the Energy Snatcher seemed all too familiar. She remembered Pachacamac attempting to use it on Tikal, but she had yet to know how he learned it and why he keeps trying to use it on Tikal. Shade then felt a strange essence within this letter, something like a Godly essence that could only come from the Knuckles Clan. She hypothesized that Pachacamac has snuck here and learned this chant in secret. She's also one of the few people to know why Tikal wants to kill Pachacamac.

"The old man probably learned it so that he can steal Tikal's Godly powers and become stronger...because he doesn't want their clan to go through another brutal war. He just wants to get it over with, so he thinks that this is the easiest thing he can do.", then she sighed. "But that will result in Tikal's demise, so I can't let that happen. I'll have to expose myself one day, whether I like it or not…", she mumbled under her breath.

Shade ripped that sheet off of the wall and brought the fire down to it, setting it on fire. Unknowingly, she also managed to set IX's hut on fire, too. Shade cursed before quickly escaping from the burning hut.

Shade shook her head. "I should go before—", she was interrupted when she felt an all too familiar presence right next to her.

 _Oh, crap! IX has returned…_ , Shade cursed. She immediately regretted everything she did when IX emerged from the flames below. She slowly backed away as the sinister being approached her. Why was she so scared all of a sudden? Was it because she almost got defeated the first time they fought, or maybe she burned sacred property to a crisp?

IX growled. "You really are a sinister being…", he snarled. "One of my own, burning my sacred hut to the ground. How traitorous…", then an evil smirk took over his hidden face. "I've lost all of my clan members to our rival clan, including yourself, and I  _will_ win this war, even if I have to  _kill_ you…", he explained with a deep, dark voice.

Shade's breathing became shallow as the intimidating being continued to approach her, apparently not fazed by the fire below him.

"How weird; you're the only one of us who's still alive...besides myself...but it looks like I'll be losing yet another member.", he explained, approaching close enough to her to push her to the ground below. Shade landed on her back and grunted from the impact of the landing. IX began to slowly trace the tip of his scepter over her temple, her neck, all the way down to her hip, causing her to shiver uncomfortably.

"Did I tell you? Any who violates my rules will be punished, and you already know what your punishment is... _execution_ …", he whispered the last part of his sentence.

He bent over and got a firm grip to Shade's neck, crushing her larynx and choking her in the process, he slowly lifted her up until her level was higher than his. He began speaking once again as he continued to mercilessly choke Shade.

"Pity that double standards don't exist in  _my_ clan. Man or woman, the consequences are the same…you may be just a young girl, but that doesn't mean I won't kill you...", he explained, shaking his head.

Shade wheezed and gasped for air as IX's grip became mode firm. IX observed Shade's faltering face as she slowly began to lose consciousness. He chuckled everytime Shade tried to escape his grasp.

"Your face just looks so adorable…", he muttered. "It reminds me of when you were just 6 years old…"

Shade grunted, trying to show a more determined facial expression. "You didn't change one bit…", she said weakly. "You'll never change…you just don't care how much those close to you are suffering. Your clan members worked so hard to try to win that previous war, and yet you wanted to do your own thing. It shouldn't even matter that they're all dead because you're just very selfish…"

IX chuckled. "Ouch, that really hurts my feelings…", he sneered. "I'll have to retort back…", andwith that he held a firm grip against Shade's neck and began to perform an all too familiar spell on her.

"I ask with all desire to receive the powers of the stronger ones and to become as powerful as Chaos, to help me overpower my enemies using their Cosmic powers…", he started. At this point, Shade decided to let IX have all of her since she was already growing weaker. She chuckled as her eyes made to close slowly, letting unconsciousness take over her body.

"Allow me to sacrifice the stronger one and—", suddenly he was taken aback by a forceful blow to his head, knocking him several feet away and thus freeing Shade from his grasp. Shade got on her knees, gasping aggressively and holding onto her neck.

While IX was down, Tikal quickly came to her aid. She turned Shade to her back and observed her. She didn't look too bad, however her muzzle was quite blue.

"Tikal…!", Shade wheezed out, reaching a hand to caress her dreads.

A single tear beaded down Tikal's muzzle. "Oh, Shade, come here…", she wept, hugging her close. She then stood up and held Shade bridal style and ran to a nearby tree, which was already dented from a previous impact to it.

The 2 shared a rather intimate moment with each other as Shade continued to recover. "Oh, dear Chaos, are you okay?", Tikal asked frantically. Shade nodded developing an aggravated facial expression.

"Why did you save me? I could've defeated him on my own…", she asked.

"Because I can't bear to lose anyone else close to me...had we not come, you would've been killed…", Tikal explained.

Before Shade could speak once more, Tikal silenced her with a finger on her lips. "Hush. We'll help you defeat this evil being. I know all too well what you went through with him in your childhood, and I don't want you to relive that memory…", she explained. Shade decided that there was no arguing with that, so she smiled and hugged the younger echidna close, a sign that told her she's okay and that she's grateful for coming to the rescue. They both then broke apart their embrace and faced the other 4's general direction. They smiled at them and exchanged nods.

Knuckles smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "Come on, guys. Let's waste this sucker…", he said, assuming a fighting stance. Sonic smiled and got into position, as if he was getting a running start.

"Alright. Team Sonic is back in business…", he said with a low, yet determined voice. Tails and Amy weren't far behind, either, as they eventually got into fighting stances, as well, with Amy pulling out her trademark Piko Piko Hammer. All 4 smirked as IX simply stood there, staring at the quartet. He them let out an evil chuckle as a fight finally initiated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this chapter turned out more morbid than I thought it would. Hopefully, the next chapter will be published later on today or early tomorrow. Make way for the new year! ^_^


	24. Tails and Sonic are under IX's Control!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Sonic continue to fight Imperator Ix, however IX pulls a dirty trick and puts Sonic and Tails under mind control, using them to attack the rest of her friends, however a throw of Amy's Piko Piko Hammer unintentionally broke IX's scepter, thus removing Sonic and Tails from the mind control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Published way later than I said I would, but stuff was happening, so yeah. Please enjoy. ^_^

Sonic chuckled and charged at IX at lightning speed. IX grunted with anticipation and swung his scepter, hoping to land a hit on the blue hedgehog, however Sonic effectively dashed to the side and behind IX within a split second. What was actually a split second felt like slow motion when IX's eyes widened and he began to wonder how Sonic dodged him so easily.

_What…!? That was so fast! How did he-_

Without warning, Sonic performed a swift Homing Attack to the back of IX's head, causing him to fly to Knuckles's direction. Knuckles smirked and whilst IX was flying towards him, performed a powerful uppercut punch to his stomach, sending him way in the air. Tails cackled a bit; now was his turn to attack. He flew high in the air where IX was heading and immediately performed a powerful elbow strike to his back, sending him back to the ground below. Before IX could land on the ground, Amy used her hammer to knock IX straight towards the tree Tikal and Shade were standing under. The both moved immediately before IX finally slammed into the tree, separating it from the ground in the process. The worst of the attack ended and he finally landed onto his stomach on the ground. The quartet knew that they weren't finished just yet, but they nonetheless waited for IX to regain his posture, even if it  _did_ take a while.

The dark being slowly propped himself up with his arms and faced the ones that led him to this current situation.  _Hah! They think they're so strong. Well, they'll think otherwise when I use the extraordinary powers of my scepter to destroy them all…_  Within the span of a few seconds, he swung his scepter around like a baton several times before pointing the c-shaped part of it towards Team Sonic's general direction, not aiming at anyone in particular. He wasn't able to perform an attack in time, however, because the lightning fast Sonic charged at him once more, however this time, IX saw what was coming, so with a strong arm, he swung the scepter under Sonic's legs, only for the latter to quickly dodge with a small hop, and with that he grabbed onto the leg of the being that was now off-guard. He swung in circles a few times before he finally let go. IX flew a few inches, however he remained on his feet.

When Knuckles was charging at him from behind, IX quickly turned to face the younger echidna and held up a hand that would not only block Knuckles's punch, but he would squeeze his hand tight around Knuckles's, however this had very little effect on the younger of the 2. If anything, the squeezing just made it harder to escape the dark being's grip, but Knuckles wouldn't give up. With a swift jerk, he slipped his hand down, knocking IX's thumb away and thus escaping from IX's grip, but when he made to punch again, IX's previous actions would repeat.

From Amy's perspective, IX looked very distracted from the rest of the team. This gave her an opportunity to formulate a brief plan with Tails. The plan was very simple and would only take a few seconds. They both nodded and the plan would take initiative. Amy, whilst behind IX, ran towards him and, with her hammer, gave a sharp blow to the dark being's spine, rendering him paralyzed for a few seconds, and Knuckles was freed once again. During those few seconds, Tails would bring IX to his feet, only to hook his arms over IX's, keeping him in a strong hold. It took IX a few seconds to regain control of his body, however when he did, he was struggling to be set free, but Tails wasn't letting go anytime soon.

"Gah! Let me go, you pipsqueak!", he shouted. This caused Tails to tighten his grip on IX, although this didn't really have any effect.

"Knuckles! Do it! Punch him!", he grunted while holding IX in place. Knuckles smirked before he made to land a few punches against his face, stomach, and groin. Things seemed to be working out over here, however they had no idea what was in store for them later on.

IX smirked.  _Ah! This child possesses the powers of the Master Emerald…so does the blue hedgehog_ , he thought to himself.  _I have just the plan that will involve them…_

After a few minutes of repeated punches to his body, IX decided that he's had enough of the games and, with his scepter still in his hand, he weakly held it upwards, or as high as it can possibly go while still in Tails's grip. Knuckles's eyes widened when Tails suddenly let go of IX.

"Tails! What're you doing!? Hold onto him!", he yelled. IX made to fly a few feet into the air and there was Tails, his eyes closed, face emotionless, and head weighing down. Knuckles's face turned into confusion when he saw Tails in this state. What was he doing? Did he fall asleep? Was he in deep thought? His thoughts were cut off when Tails's eyes suddenly shot open. His irises and pupils took on an emerald green hue and he grinned widely, exposing his fangs. He suddenly charged at an unassuming Knuckles and threw a strong punch to his face, knocking him into the ground below. Before Knuckles could get up, however, he was weighed down by Tails, who was now sitting on Knuckles, holding his arms into the ground so that he couldn't escape. Knuckles missed the sinister chuckles escaping from Tail's mouth when he was trying to free himself from the fox's grip. Tails removed a hand from his arm and balled up his fist, delivering a powerful punch to his jaw, giving him a nosebleed and knocking out a tooth. Knuckles shouted from the impact.

"Tails! Why are you doing this?", he asked, his speech slurred from his lost tooth. Right after Knuckles asked, Tails used his other fist to punch Knuckles again, on the other side of his jaw. For a few moments, Tails was repeatedly punching Knuckles, and he never stopped.

Sonic noticed the situation in front of him and tried to stop Tails; he ran towards him and firmly gripped his neck as an attempt to pry him off of Knuckles. Tikal and Shade simply stayed into the distance and watched.

"Should we help?", Shade asked.

Tikal shook her head. "Yes, but...I wouldn't know what to do, plus I wouldn't let you fight again…", she responded

Sonic tried and failed to get Tails off of Knuckles. "Tails! Stop this! What's gotten into you!?", but he was knocked back when Tails kicked him away from behind. All 4 team members missed when IX returned his scepter into the air, and now Sonic was on one knee and he remained that way for a while. Amy noticed and thought that he was severely hurt, so she approached him.

"Sonic? Are you okay?", she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Sonic absentmindedly placed a hand on his shoulder, overlapping Amy's hand. Amy couldn't help but blush. From Amy's perspective, Sonic was accepting Amy's support, but it was far from that. Somic made to slowly remove Amy's hand from his shoulder and he caressed it slowly‒torturously slowly‒with his thumb. Amy bit her lip and her face became slightly redder.

"It's okay, Sonic. I know Tails didn't mean to hurt you‒" the supposedly tender moment ended when Sonic turned to face Amy while still holding onto her hand. This caused her arm to rotate in an odd direction.

"Hey! Sonic‒!", she roared in pain when Sonic pulled her arm down sharply, dislocating it in the process, but Sonic wasn't showing any signs of sympathy. His face showed nothing but immorality, especially with his sinister smirk accompanying his furrowed brows. Neither of them noticed IX watching from above, and he chucked as the show below continued to unfold.

Knuckles, Tikal, and Shade overheard the noise and he knew at that moment that Amy was in trouble. "Amy!", he shouted before he was muted yet again by a punch to his face.

What's happening? Why have our friends turned on us?", Tikal asked, not really expecting an answer. Shade simply shrugged.

Amy was left on her knees, holding her injured arm. She tried and failed to hide a distressed facial expression, however there was no time to cry, now, because she knew deep down that something wasn't right. This wasn't Sonic who had just broke her arm. Sonic would never do this to Amy. There was someone else within Sonic that did this, but all of those assumptions were overshadowed by Sonic's physical appearance and her overall relationship with Sonic, therefore she believed that it was still Sonic.

S-Sonic...why…?", she whimpered. Her mind was still blank when Sonic grabbed Amy by her hair and brought her to her feet. After what seemed like forever, Sonic brought a knee up to Amy's nose multiple times, giving her a nosebleed that wouldn't stop. Copper stuff seeped out of her nose, down to her mouth, and finally to the bottom of her muzzle where it would slowly leak to the ground below, and Sonic never let go of her hair. From above, IX seemed to be enjoying the view of Sonic hurting Amy. He cackled from above, and Amy heard him from below; she weakly looked up to him and growled.

"IX…", she muttered. "You...! You did this to Sonic…!".

Ix pretended to be confused. "Hm? Did  _what_  to Sonic? I didn't do anything to Sonic…".

Amy was getting madder and madder the longer she stared at IX. "Then...where's my Sonikku? This isn't Sonic…! You did something to the  _real_ Sonic…!"

IX ignored everything Amy said and swung his scepter. This caused Sonic to repeat IX's action and he threw in injured Amy to the side. The worst seemed to be over for Amy, however "Sonic" wasn't done just yet; when he faced Knuckles and Tails, he knew exactly what to do. He smirked.

From below Tails, Knuckles was looking a mess. Despite having a bruised face and a lost tooth, Knuckles waited for the right moment to get Tails off of him. He needed Tails to punch him one last time before he could land a powerful blow to Tails's face. When he finally did it, Tails was knocked away a few inches and Knuckles was freed. Knuckles got to his feet and wiped blood from his nose and mouth. He weakly approached Tails, who was smirking evilly from the distance.

His brows furrowed. "You...I don't know who you are, but you you're not Tails. You're someone else...and I'll find out who you are...you'll see...once I defeat you, you will...reveal... yourse-" before he could finish, the impact of a powerful Homing Attack from Sonic severely injured Knuckles, snapping his neck and sending him face-up onto the ground. His eyes had widened, but such an impact caused his pupils to dilate. His mouth was also slightly open, seeping a single droplet of blood. The occasional twitching of his body were the only signs of life within him.

As expected, Tikal was quite devastated. She desperately ran towards Knuckles. Shade's attempt to stop her failed when Tails appeared behind Tikal, wrapping her arm around her neck and choking her in the process. Tikal tried to pry away Tails's arm to no avail and before she knew it, she was very slowly losing consciousness. Now only Shade was left to fight.

IX approached the 2 echidnas and chuckled. "How ironic. I'll have to fight only  _you_... _again_ …", he said.

Shade mindlessly looked around. She was trying to find who else was uninjured, but IX was right: she  _was_  the only one left. Shade had really wished that she didn't have to fight IX again, but from the situation going on right now, it seems like it had to be that way...or so she thought. She looked towards Tikal when she heard her yelling out.

"Shade! I figured out what's happening! Sonic and Tails didn't turn against us! They're under IX's control!", she explained. Shade's brows furrowed somewhat, she wasn't sure how she felt after hearing this. From her perspective, it sort of felt like a combination of incredulous and confusion. She was barely able to believe that IX was putting Sonic and Tails under mind control, but now came the part where she was open for suggestions on how to revert the effects.

"The scepter!", Tikal choked out. "Remove the scepter from his hands! He won't have control over it if he doesn't have possession of it!", she was cut off when Tails tightened her grip against her neck, choking her even more.

"Ugh, shut up you pesky little girl!", IX yelled before facing Shade once again. Shade then faced IX, her facial expression not changing.  _Right...but you said you didn't want me to fight…I guess you changed your mind this time..._ , she thought to herself before assuming a fighting stance. IX replaced himself to the ground so that the 2 can fight more easily. Right, so all Shade had to do was remove him of his scepter and Sonic and Tails would be freed from his mind control. It seemed easy enough.

IX simply chuckled and a fight between the 2 initiated. For now, the 2 were throwing basic punches and kicks, blocking and dodging each other every once in awhile, but neither of them noticed one of their teammates regaining their posture.

Amy struggled, but when she finally stood up, she brought her hammer out with her uninjured hand. She panted heavily as her body began to fail on her once again, however she continued to fight it off and brought her hammer back, aiming it towards IX. She wanted to hit IX with the hammer so hard right now; she could just try to fight him right then and there, however considering the condition she was in, she opt out of that.

"You jerk…! Give Sonic back…!", and with that, she threw her hammer towards an unassuming IX. Unfortunately, it missed IX by just a few centimeters.  _Fortunately_ , however, IX's scepter was knocked out of his hands and into another smaller tree into the distance. The scepter, along with the hammer, slammed into the tree, the scepter breaking in the process. For a moment, Shade waited.  _Who did that…?_ , she thought to herself. She looked around and before her eyes, Tails had loosened his grip on Tikal and Sonic was staring at Amy's wounds in shock.

IX growled and retreated. "Fools! You destroyed my scepter! You'll pay for that!", he yelled into the distance, and with that, he was gone.

Tails's mind returned to normal and he realized that his arm was around Tikal and she was breathing heavily. He finally let go and said: "Oh, jeez, sorry. Are you okay?", he asked.

Tikal caressed her neck lightly. "I'm fine…", she responded, taking one last breath before her breathing regulated yet again. Tails then looked over to Knuckles, who was still lying lifeless on the ground, his head facing away from them. Tails ran over to him and propped his upper body up with his arm, however his head was still facing away from him and he could've sworn he saw it dangle a bit.

"Knuckles…? Can you speak…?", He tried to turn his head to him, but he realized how severely injured he was when Knuckles's head dangled to face him. His face said it all; he was at the brink of death.

Tikal made it towards Knuckles and propped his head steady so that it was level with the rest of his body. "Careful, Tails; he suffered a severe blow to his neck.", she warned. "I'll handle this…", and with that, she slowly caressed the bottom of his muzzle, being careful not to put too much pressure onto his neck. After a few seconds, Knuckles's pupils became smaller and he finally blinked. Most of his wounds were gone, too and his tooth had regrown.

He groaned as he tried to adjust to his surroundings. "Uhh...what happened…?", he asked, still not sure where he was or who was around him. Tikal frowned. "We'll inform you of it later. Right now, we must return to Angel Island before it's too late…

It was Shade's turn to help out some of her friends, so she headed towards Sonic and an injured Amy. She placed two hands on each of Amy's shoulders and smiled. "Shall I tend to your wounds?", she asked before mumbling what seemed to be a prayer.

"Almight Chaos, please remove the wounds of the injured…", she muttered, and before she knew it, Amy was bruise-free and able to move both of her arms again. She chuckled. "Hey, neat trick.", she said.

Sonic then faced her and gave her a serious look. "Amy? What happened? Who did this to you?", Sonic asked.

Amy sighed. "It's a long story…", she responded before heading to the rest of the group, with Sonic and Shade following along. When they arrived, Knuckles had just made it to his feet and he was dusting himself off of any remaining dirt.

Tikal made to speak. "Alright, you guys. It looks like IX has the power to put others under his control, but only if they possess the powers of the Master Emerald. The reason why this happened to Sonic and Tails is due to the Master Emerald shards within them. The same thing occurred when he used his scepter to call Chaos from the Master Emerald during the previous War of the Clans…", she explained.

"Unless we remove those shards from your bodies, you're extremely vulnerable to his mind-control powers…however we can't remove the shard from Sonic because it's sustaining his life...", she finished.

"So you mean the Sonic and Tails that were attacking us were under mind-control?", she asked.

"Precisely.", Tikal responded. "With these 2 under IX's control, he can make them do whatever he wants, and that's why I suggested removing the shards from them."

"But we also don't want him to get his hands on the Master Emerald or he'll have  _Chaos_  under his control again and that would end us all.", Knuckles added.

"Well, his scepter is broken now, so at least he'll be useless for a while…", Shade added. "However, this place is  _full_  of factories where he could simply build another scepter, so I'm not sure how we can prevent that…".

"Very true…", Tikal responded."We'll have to formulate a plan to get rid of him for good, however we  _really_  don't have any more time to waste, so we must hurry back to Angel Island before the break of dawn…". The other 5 nodded.

"Guys, I'm sorry for beating you all up…", Tails apologized.

"Yeah, me too. What we did was messed up…", Sonic added.

Knuckles chuckled and placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "You 2 were under mind control, remember? There's no need to apologize. You couldn't control yourselves.", he reassured. "Now, come on. Let's head back.", he said, heading towards Tikal. She gladly climbed onto his back, with Amy climbing onto Shade's back and Sonic holding onto Tails's hand, they flew off into the distance.

For now, they were safe from IX since his scepter was now broken, however because it would be easy for him to rebuild one, they would need to find a way to shut down all of Albion's factories so that he was scepter-less for good. Also, they would need to find a way to remove Sonic's Master Emerald shard without removing his life along with it, especially since Tikal's friends from Knuckles's timeline would need them in order to restore the Master Emerald in their world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright sorry for the delay but next chapter coming soon or whatever. :)


	25. How Tikal and Shade Became Friends and Tikal and Knuckles's Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shade's backstory on how she escaped the Nocturnus Clan and became Tikal's close friend; Knuckles and Tikal decide that tomorrow will be the day to get their futures predicted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m kind of tired of apologizing for late chapters, but my schedule! Ugh! It’s been especially rocky these past few months.
> 
> Also, if I have the time (I never will dafuq am I saying lol), I’ll fix any errors in spelling, punctuation, etc. Anyway, please enjoy! :)
> 
> Edit: So I looked throught the chapter again and just...errors of all types everywhere! I fixed them, though. Should be okay now.

Everyone on Angel Island was either asleep or residing inside of their sleeping quarters for the night. All except Pachacamac, who was currently searching for Tikal, but so far she was nowhere to be found. He crossed his arms and grumbled, angry that Tikal was currently not where she was supposed to be.

"Damn you, Tikal. Where can you possibly be at this time?", he mumbled under his breath. He continued to walk around aimlessly, searching high and low for the Guardian of the Master Emerald.

Meanwhile, way high up, Shade, Knuckles with Tikal on his back, and Tails holding Sonic and Amy's hands, had finally made it to Angel Island. They flew just above the remote island, where it seemed pretty dormant, until…

Tikal groaned. "Drat! That's my father. Quickly, let's land near that torch.", she commanded, pointing towards a large, burning torch near one of the sleeping quarters. Hiding was not quite on the agenda, but Tikal was still trying to be as distant from her father as possible. She couldn't afford to get in this kind of trouble. Not with outsiders and a member of their rival clan around.

Tails noticed Pachacamac looking around frantically. "I think he's looking for you.", he remarked. Tikal was unamused by Tails's comment and gave him a "wow, ya think?" sort of look. She eyed Pachacamac for a bit, figuring out the right time to pass him

"Release me, Knuckles.", Tikal whispered, trying to climb off of Knuckles's back. "Follow me closely. I will lead you all to my sleeping quarters, but don't make any noise." For some odd reason, Sonic seemed especially unsure about Tikal's plan. He figured there would be a chance of them getting caught if they weren't careful, therefore having to take extreme measures, and he was in no mood to hurt the father of his new friend.

Once Pachacamac was a fair distance from the group, Tikal pointed to a spot towards the far left. "That's where we need to go. Follow me.", the group stayed relatively low, low enough to at least not be immediately spotted by Pachacamac.

 _At least my sleeping quarters can finally be in use, since I'm rarely there most of the time. Being a Guardian is hard work…_ , Tikal thought to herself. After a couple of minutes, the group was finally where they wanted to be.

The sleeping quarters on Angel Island were built with the same brick material as the Altar, however they were smaller and usually situated next to either one or 2 torches. There was nothing to seal the entrance of the sleeping quarters, however some of the residents have used cloth (made form the same material as Pachachamac's clothing) to make a makeshift "door".

"Hurry in. I have to tell my father that I'm back.", Tikal rushed, the rest of the group hurriedly making their way into the dark place, and it was _very_ dark, in fact, that the others couldn't see where they were seated at, except for Knuckles, who had slept here numerous times and therefore knows that room like the back of his hand.

Tikal took one last peek into the quarters. "If there is time tomorrow, I would like to show you guys around the island. It'll be fun, I promise.", she explained before leaving to find Pachacamac.

Tikal hurriedly ran over to where her father was, which was a bit far to the right of the island. She finally stopped on a dime and sheepishly greeted the clan leader.

"Greetings, father. Apologies for my tardiness…", she explained.

Pachacamac frowned. "As the Guardian of the Master Emerald, you can not afford to be tardy all of the time. You will have serious concequences if this happens again.", he explained.

Tikal nodded. "Sorry. I won't do it again."

Pachacamac nodded and proceeded to the right yet again. Tikal sighed and made her way to the Altar, alone and slightly chilly. _I hope my new friends don't get caught_ …

The sounds of quiet breathing were the only thing that made the quarters seem not so bland. Knuckles quickly got up and headed to the exit.

"I'll be right back, guys. This place needs some light.", he muttered, picking up a nearby branch, one thick enough to hold a flame for a while, and set it near the torch next to the quarters. This wouldn't last too long, but it was just enough to illuminate the place until everyone was asleep.

Everything seemed much clearer to the group when a full beam of light took over the room. For a moment, everything was very awkward, until Tails finally spoke.

"So, Knuckles. You ended up here by accident, huh?", he asked with a fairly quiet voice.

Knuckles nodded blandly. "Yep…"

A long silence.

"You don't wanna be here, do you?"

"Nope…"

Another long silence.

Then Amy faced Shade. "So, like, how did you and Tikal meet? I mean, because you 2 are from rival clans or whatever...", she asked, trying to liven up the dullness of everyone else. _Wow, everyone's so dead, now…_ , she scoffed.

Shade bit her lip. "It's kind of a long story. I might bore you guys.", she responded, but everyone seemed so intrigued to hear the backstory of Tikal and Shade's friendship. She simply gave up and got started.

And with that, a flashback began…

* * *

_The planet of Albion was somewhat deserted, save for a young echidna, who looked to be running away from something. She was clutching her arm and breathing heavily, which meant she might've been injured. She looked very weak, and probably wouldn't last too long without some first aid._

_She was trying to escape the island. She would glide for as long as she had to until another form of land, of which she didn't care what or who inhabited said land, appeared. but wasn't sure if her arm could withstand too much activity. She tried anyway, and with a running start, managed to get her glide going somewhat smoothly. Even though she left behind a crimson trail into the air, it thankfully didn't take her too long to find land yet again, and just in time, too. Her arm was beginning to give up on her._

_She landed roughly on what looked to be grass. Very hard grass. Thankfully, there wasn't much impact on her injury, however it wasn't going to heal anytime soon. In fact, it was still bleeding out more. She quickly had to find first aid before this loss of blood took a toll on her life._

_She felt herself breathing heavily and sweating profusely. She remembered she hadn't had anything to drink whilst traveling, so she quickly looked for a source of water. After a couple of sluggish minutes, she stumbled upon what looked to be a garden. It was very beautiful, and she wished she could hang out here, but her injury demanded attention._

_Within the garden, she spotted a shallow body of water. It sort of looked like a pool. Nevertheless, she needed to hydrate a bit, and while at it, she would also wash off the blood from her wound. She rushed over to the pool, frantically cupping water into her hands for a drink. It wasn't the best; it was warm, giving it a rather unpleasant taste for some reason. She didn't care, though, because she needed to quickly hydrate herself._

_Once she stopped panting, she went right to her wound, rinsing the dry blood back into the pool. This didn't help, though, because every time she rinsed off some blood, more of it would seep right out of her wound. She continued nonetheless, hoping the bleeding would stop eventually. She noticed herself becoming less and less in touch with her surroundings as she grew weaker._

_2 more echidnas, one around her age and another who was around ten times her age, possibly the other echidna's grandmother. The 2 were about to relax and play in this garden, however before they could even explore the many flowers bloomed within the garden, they noticed another echidna leaning over the pool. She looked like she would fall into that pool any second, given how extremely weak she looked._

_"_ _Grandma, look!", the little girl shouted, about to release her grandmother's hand to help the farther echidna, only for the elder one to hold her hand tighter, bringing her closer to herself._

_"_ _Careful, Tikal. We don't know who that is. She might not be nice.", she responded, wagging a finger at her. They then noticed the echidna they mentioned approaching them slowly, grasping onto her arm and still panting, but not as heavy. She sobbed every once in awhile from the sharp pain the wound produced. She was thankful, however, that there were others around. Maybe these 2 could help her._

_"_ _P—please…! Help me. Help me…!", she whimpered, losing the strength needed to stay standing. She had just barely made it to the other 2 before she collapsed. The elder echidna quickly caught her, stopping her from falling flat of her face. She gasped as she saw just how bad her wound was._

_"_ _Dearest Chaos! What happened to you!?", she asked, shocked at just how weak the wee echidna was._

_"_ _M—my arm…", she sobbed quietly._

_Tikal felt very bad for the poor echidna and approached her. "Grandma, let me heal her. I've been practicing my powers.", she offered. The elder one smiled and let her granddaughter do the work. She gently rubbed her small palm against the deep wound. The injured one winced slightly, but before she knew it, the pain, blood, and weakness had disappeared._

_"_ _Wow, thank you!", she giggled, absentmindedly embracing the young echidna who healed her. Tikal smiled lightly and returned the hug. Once they broke the hug, they both giggled together._

_After a couple of moments, Shade looked up at the elder echidna. "_ _We didn't properly introduce ourselves. I'm Lamanai. This is my granddaughter, Tikal.", the elder one explained._

_"I'_ _m Shade...", she said shyly._

_Tikal smiled. "Where did you come from?", she asked._

_That question hit Shade like a brick. She wasn't sure how her new friends would react if she told them she was from their rival Clan, despite not knowing where these 2 came from. Either way, she believed that this would still be a hit or miss situation for her._

_"_ _I'm from Albion. I escaped from the Nocturnus Clan…", she said nervously, waiting to see how the 2 would react._

_The 2 were surprised, but not for the reason Shade was expecting._

_"_ _Who from our rival clan would hurt you_ _of all people_ _so badly!?", Lamanai asked._

_"_ _It was my master. He did it.", she responded._

_Tikal growed. "They're such bad people. You should never go back to those mean people.", she warned._

_Shade gave Tikal a weak smile. 'You bet I won't!', she thought to herself. She didn't really know what else to say after that, but thankfully Tikal broke the silence._

_"_ _Grandma, can Shade play with us? Please?", she asked, her voice the slightest bit whiny._

_Lamanai thought for a long moment. Shade was from the Nocturnus Clan after all, but seeing as she was only so young and so innocent, she nodded nonetheless. "Of course. You 2 are friends now, right? Have as much fun as you want!", she chuckled, releasing Tikal's hand._

_A giggly Tikal skipped towards her new friend and the first place they went to was the same pool that Shade had drank from while Lamanai stayed in the distance and watched. They waded in the pool for a good few seconds until they saw a small creature floating towards them._

_"_ _Is that a Chao?", Shade asked. Tikal nodded and grabbed it, placing it into her arms. The Chao smiled and cooed the typical "Chao Chao!" phrase to them. They then saw a couple more Chao appearing in multiple places._

_"_ _Grandma, we're in a Chao Garden!", she giggled._

_She didn't notice the slight discomfort Lamanai was in due to the Chao surrounding them. "I see, honey…", she chuckled nervously._

_After a couple of hours of playing and telling each other about themselves, it was finally time to head back to the Altar. Lamanai was first to exit, with Tikal and Shade not too far behind. They were walking next to each other. Neither realized that their hands were intertwined, but eventually the 2 noticed. They both looked down for a bit before making eye contact and smiling._

_"_ _Let's be best friends.", Tikal suggested, giggling._

_Shade's face lit up and she genuinely wanted to cry. She never thought that she would actually become this close to someone, let alone someone from her rival clan. Nonetheless, Tikal's close contact with her made her feel more welcome._

_"_ _Best friends forever.", she giggled. For the next couple of years, the 2 were growing closer and closer, eventually forming a sisterly bond. Tikal would even show Shade the special abilities of Master Guardians and was even looking forward to her becoming one in the near future._

* * *

"I have a couple of questions.", Tails said. Shade nodded, giving him the green light to ask away.

"How did you manage to do all of this Knuckles Clan stuff without getting caught and why are you even wearing Nocturnus Clan clothing?", he asked.

Shade was somewhat shocked. She honestly thought Tails would ask _way_ more questions than this. "Tikal and I are very sneaky. Also, I wear this clothing because despite no longer being part of the Nocturnus Clan, I adapted to our culture, which is also why my combat tactics are similar to that of the Nocturnus Clan."

Now Knuckles was the one to ask a question. "So that's why you use firecrackers?", he asked.

Shade shook her head. "That's just my own thing. My martial arts are similar to that of the Nocturnus Clan."

"Where did that body suit come from?", Amy asked.

"I stole it from one of Albions clothing factories because I didn't like how the Knuckles Clan's clothing felt.", she explained, shrugging.

"So you're just... _not_ worried about getting caught with that on?", Sonic asked.

Shade shook her head once more. "Trust me, I know what to do to not to get caught.", she explained.

They all jumped when they heard footsteps approaching. Orange dreads reflected the fire's light back to the others' direction. "May I see Knuckles for a bit?", Tikal requested. Sonic chuckled and pushed Knuckles forward, laughing louder when he stumbled. Knuckles looked back to see a large sneer taking over Sonic's face. Knuckles quickly exited the structure and the 2 stood next to it.

"Remember when I said I wanted to ask Chaos some questions about our future? Well, my father will be away this week and I believe this will be the _perfect_ opportunity to do this. This Friday, maybe? We should have plenty of time until we initiate a strike on Imperator IX, but right now, I would just like to have some fun with you and your friends and maybe get to know them better. Do you agree?", Tikal asked, hoping Knuckles would say "yes".

A long silence took place, but eventually, Knuckles shrugged. "Ah, why not?" , he said, sort of reluctant of the decision. "Just nothing weird, okay?", he demanded. Tikal nodded in acknowledgement and led Knuckles back into the structure while she trotted back to the Altar. Immediately after entering, he was surrounded by questionable stares.

"So what were you and Tikal talking about?", Sonic asked, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, you know. War stuff…", he lied, blushing slightly. "Nothing special…". He bit his lip. He felt like he could've come up with a better lie.

Shade shrugged. "Alright, I would like to formulate the plan to infiltrate Albion and shut down all of their factories. It won't be simple, so pay attention.", and with that, she began to talk. Total might've implied that they had plenty of time until they infiltrate Albion, but did they really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t really predict how long you’d have to wait for the next chapter but I’ll try my hardest to get that one out earlier than this one. I'm also working on my rough draft for "Gossip REMASTERED". Peace out!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's the first chapter done. I hope you enjoyed it :)


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